Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

11. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to outline the position regarding the way in which he plans to uphold his commitment to end the use of hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation as emergency accommodation for persons by July 2017; and a timeframe for same. [24806/17]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The first action of Pillar 1 on homelessness in rebuilding Ireland commits to ensuring that by mid-2017 hotels will be used only in limited circumstances for emergency accommodation for families. Pillar 1 commits to meeting housing needs through the housing assistance payment, housing allocations, a rapid build programme and acquisitions. Nowhere in the document does it state those responsible will deal with this problem by moving people into other emergency accommodation or hubs. Will the Minister of State give us an update on whether the Government will meet that specific commitment by the end of June?

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness includes the objective that, by mid-2017, hotels will be used only in limited circumstances as emergency accommodation for families.

It is intended that the long-term housing needs of those currently homeless, including those families currently accommodated in hotels, will be met through housing supports, such as the enhanced housing assistance payment scheme and general social housing allocations. Significant outputs are being achieved in this regard. Housing authorities achieved more than 3,000 sustainable exits from homeless accommodation into independent tenancies during 2016, which was a record level of activity in a calendar year.

Housing authorities are also pursuing a range of supported temporary accommodation initiatives to provide accommodation for homeless families with a greater level of stability than is possible in hotels, while move-on options to long-term independent living are identified and secured. Furthermore, such arrangements will facilitate more co-ordinated needs assessment and support, including on-site access to required services, such as welfare, health, housing services and appropriate family supports.

We are confident that the mid-2017 objective relating to hotels, as set out in Rebuilding Ireland, will be met. At this stage we are having weekly meetings to ensure we meet that objective. This goes back to ensuring that all those involved in making this happen are fully equipped to do this and to make the resources available. We have asked them about it across a range of measures to ensure we reach this target.

I agree with Deputy Ó Broin. We will be judged on the progress of Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness in the context of that figure. We cannot over-emphasise that point to everyone. Deputy Ó Broin will stress the point to us and he will hold us to account in that regard. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, set that ambitious target on purpose to ensure we get there.

Would we have preferred to see more movement earlier in the process? Certainly, we would. However, let us consider the trends now in recent weeks and months. We will get there. We are on track to do it. There has been a high level of presentations in recently months. The level is probably higher than any of us would have believed possible or would have wanted to see. The levels are very high and that is affecting movement here. However, we are still confident we can reach our target by mid-2017.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State left out three sentences from the commitment in the answer. The document does not simply state that the Government will end the use of hotels by mid-2017. It lists the four types of housing the Government will provide to meet that objective. Nowhere among those four types of housing is there mention of moving people into other emergency accommodation.

When I raised this with senior departmental officials last year, they told us the intention was to move these families into long-term housing. Approximately 875 families are currently in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. I understand the Minister of State has tables of data he might be able to share with us. Of those 875 families, how many will move into one of the four housing types in the Rebuilding Ireland commitment by the end of June? How many will move into other emergency accommodation that is not in the Rebuilding Ireland commitment? Crucially, how many will remain in the hotels in which they are currently, even if the hotel is to be refurbished, given additional supports, and called a family hub? We are not simply going to hold the Government to account on half of the commitment the Government has made. We want to know about the full commitment in Rebuilding Ireland.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will give the figures as they may be helpful to Deputy Ó Broin. Since he believes I have tables before me, I will give him what I have. The figures for the end of March, referenced by Deputy Ó Broin, show 870 homeless families were housed in commercial hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation in the Dublin region. The corresponding figure for April fell to 695. Again, that is a trend in the right direction although we would have hoped for more.

I do not have the breakdown of where individuals have gone. I can get that for the Deputy at some stage. Deputy Ó Broin is right. It is the intention of the Department that people will leave hotels for permanent accommodation. That is our desire and that is what we want to do. In some cases it will be necessary for a two-step approach involving more family-friendly accommodation on the journey to a permanent house. We are still committed to this target and to get them into a permanent home over the remaining time. That is what we are trying to do. In some cases, they might end up in some of the new family hubs. I have been to visit them. I am unsure whether Deputy Ó Broin has visited them. Some of them are impressive in terms of the range of services they can provide. They are still not ideal. They are not full permanent homes. The people in hotels would like to move into permanent houses.

We are using the HAP scheme as well. Houses have been acquired. We are using the repair and lease-back initiative. All the various schemes are being used for homeless people. We expect 68 new rapid-build construction houses to come on-stream in the weeks ahead. They will be used. Houses have been acquired through the Housing Agency. It is being done through a combination of measures. It is not a case of everyone being moved into the new family hubs. In some cases, some of the old commercial hotels have been reclassified. We are taking over them, re-developing them and changing the services they offer.

Our commitment is that people will not be in a commercial hotel because that is not a place to live. We want to achieve that, even if some end up in some of the new family hubs. If Deputy Ó Broin visits them he will see that what they can offer is far better than a commercial hotel. The measure is only short-term in nature and they will end up with a house.

The figures for April are down to 695. I will get the breakdown for more recent months. We expect the figures for May, June and July will show further reductions.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Any improvement in emergency accommodation for families will be welcomed. Again, I go back to the commitment in Rebuilding Ireland that by the middle of this year families that are in hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation will be moved into HAP housing, rapid-build and procured units. We will want to know, sooner rather than later, how many of those 800 or 900 families have gone into the four categories of permanent housing in the Rebuilding Ireland commitment as well as how many are still in emergency accommodation. We must not forget that many of the families the Minister of State claims will be moving into better quality emergency accommodation have been already in emergency accommodation for up to two years. I am not against better quality emergency accommodation. I want the Minister to keep the specific commitment he made last year, namely, not simply to get families out of hotels, but to get them into the four different categories of permanent long-term housing.

It is clear from everything that the Minister of State has said that there will be a number of people - I think it will be a majority - who will continue to be in emergency accommodation, albeit of better quality, from July onwards.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that the Minister gave that commitment in good faith and he wants to achieve it. The number one priority for us as Ministers and the Department is that people would be out of commercial hotels because they are not places to raise a family or to try to survive. Some people are there for 18 months to a year, which is not on. The aim is to get them into permanent accommodation. The Deputy was right to say that some will still end up in further temporary accommodation. While a hell of a lot better than a hotel, it is not the full answer for them. We are working with families so that they can transition into their full house.

I will give the Deputy some of the figures. Last year under the homeless HAP scheme, which has been a major addition to help us house people from homelessness, we targeted approximately 550 tenancies. We have reached more than 800 in 2016. These are people who were homeless and got into a house. This year alone there have been more than 600 new presentations that are now in a house under the HAP scheme. These are people who would be in hotels but who are being accommodated in homes. With new presentations and those in hotels, we will achieve these targets. However, I wish to stress that it has been very difficult because of the number of new presentations. While I am at it and given the Deputy was looking for them, I may as well give him the homelessness figures for April. The number of homeless adults is 4,972. The number of homeless families is 1,302. The number of dependants is 2,708. In Dublin only, there are 3,337 homeless adults, with the number of homeless families being 1,091. Again, those figures are slightly up. While we are making inroads in terms of our target of removing people from hotels, the overall number of presentations remain high. That is for a combination of reasons. We can look behind that story some day and see that.

In the weeks and months ahead, there will be more than 550 new family places available. These will help those who will present as homeless in the future. They will no longer be going into hotels. They will either enter a HAP situation or move into one of the family hubs and move on from there. It is important to deal with the hotels today, as well as the number of presentations. We are making great progress in that regard. I wish we could get ahead of it though.