Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A distraught family in emergency accommodation in Dundalk has contacted me. This family of four girls is on the Fingal County Council housing list, but had to leave the area to go to Dundalk as they feared for their safety. The family chose to come to this area as it has local connections with relations living there. Fingal County Council has offered to pay for the family's emergency accommodation indefinitely. I telephoned Fingal County Council this week and it confirmed to me that whether it is six months, three years or whatever it takes, it will pay.

The cost per month for this accommodation to the State is more than €5,000 per month. The family is going into its 12th week in the emergency accommodation, which has cost Fingal County Council more than €15,000. The family has found a suitable property to rent in Dundalk and has the opportunity to set up home and make a fresh start. However, Fingal County Council is unable to provide a housing assistance payment for the family in Louth, but is able to do so in other nearby counties such as Meath.

All the family requires is a deposit and the first month's rent. The amount of money it is seeking from Fingal County Council is approximately €2,600, which would be a considerable saving compared to more than €5,000 monthly costs.

This family is stuck between a rock and a hard place, as Fingal County Council has stated it is unable to provide it, leaving this family stuck in emergency accommodation. In the long term, the cost of the housing assistance payment, HAP, for this family in Dundalk is less than the cost of emergency accommodation for one month.

If Fingal County Council would pay the deposit and a month's rent, the family would be able to come off the Fingal County Council list and go onto the Louth County Council list. After that, Louth County Council would be able to take over the HAP payments. This would possibly take four weeks. The cost of the rent would then be approximately €1,500 per month, rather than the current cost of more than €5,000.

As I said, this is a family of four girls. They are staying in a bed and breakfast, in a single room with two double beds. One of the family members is permanently disabled, and her health and mental health is quickly deteriorating. That family member is currently out of education and is only seven years old. She has a life-limiting, life-threatening metabolic condition, known as mitochondrialdisorder, and is tube-fed. She is behind on her school work and is not sleeping properly. How could anyone sleep properly with four girls in one room with two double beds? If the family was able to move into this rented accommodation, she would then be able to take up her education in a local special needs school and have a healthy routine.

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

I would like to thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for raising this issue with me today. One of the key commitments in Rebuilding Ireland is to help homeless families and children exit homelessness and move into independent tenancies. The housing assistance payment forms a key element of the Government's response to achieving this.

HAP is a flexible and immediate form of social housing support, enabling households to choose where they wish to live. The national roll-out of the HAP scheme was completed in 2017, and HAP is now available in 31 local authorities. It is working quite well in counties like Meath and Louth and in Fingal and other areas that were mentioned here today. There were 31,200 households supported by the scheme by the end of 2017, with a target of an additional 17,000 households during 2018.

One of the measures put in place in early 2017 to support families through the use of HAP was the establishment of a homeless HAP place finders service in the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, which leads the response to homelessness in the four Dublin local authorities and in Cork. The homeless HAP service supports families in emergency accommodation by nominating them to viewings with the place finder service and encouraging and supporting them in finding private rented accommodation. More than 2,000 families are being supported by the scheme.

The scheme has had success in Dublin, Cork, and the Fingal area referenced by Deputy Fitzpatrick, where the housing team has done great work. Likewise, the housing team in County Louth are doing great work, providing housing solutions for many people who are homeless. Following this, the scheme was introduced to all local authorities earlier this year.

A critical aspect of the homeless HAP place finder scheme is the results that it is achieving in preventing families from entering emergency accommodation. For example, a family provided with a notice to quit from a tenancy can be supported by the local authority to secure a tenancy without ever having to enter homeless accommodation. Accordingly, the scheme is playing a vital role in prevention.

Preventing homelessness is a priority for the Government. Increasing inter-agency prevention efforts is a key function of the inter-agency group on homelessness, which was established by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, following the housing summit in September 2017. The group is chaired by Mr. John Murphy, a former Secretary General, and includes representation from the Department of Health, the HSE, Tusla, the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The group is expected to make its first report to the Minister in the coming weeks.

Of course, delivering more social housing is critical to addressing homelessness, and my Department is working closely with local authorities to accelerate delivery. Last year an additional 7,000 new social houses were delivered across all schemes throughout the country, and this year we expect to have 8,000 new houses. That is in addition to the 17,000 HAP places that we hope to have as well.

While the level of homelessness remains a significant problem, solutions are being implemented. Over 4,000 exits from homelessness were achieved in 2017, and my Department is working to build on this in 2018. The homeless HAP place finder service will remain an integral part of our response, and will certainly help counties like Louth, Fingal and other areas to find accommodation for people who find themselves homeless.

I understand that there is a particular issue with the case Deputy Fitzpatrick has raised, and I am happy to discuss it with him. I have been assured by the officials in my Department that a solution can be reached. As Minister State, I commit to working with the Deputy and with the local teams in Louth and in Fingal, which are doing great work. We will find a solution for this family. I can assure this House of that.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I repeat that there are four girls living in one room, with two double beds and no facilities for cooking or washing clothes. As I said, one of these girls is a seven year old child who has a life-limiting, life-threatening metabolic condition and is tube-fed. She is out of school and her health is suffering. I have spoken to a local special needs school in Dundalk that is willing to take her on.

I do not blame the Fingal County Council or the Louth County Council and I agree with the Minister of State that they do tremendous work. However, it makes no sense to pay €5,000 per month for one room in emergency accommodation when the family can get a house where each member will have their own room for roughly €1,500. It makes no sense whatsoever.

I have great confidence in the Minister of State. This Government has given a tremendous commitment to look after the housing needs of the people over the next two years. I work very closely with Mr. Denis McArdle, who looks after the homeless people in Dundalk, and with Mr. Joe McGuinness, the housing officer in Dundalk. Louth County Council is willing to take this family on, but the position at the moment is that Fingal County Council is paying, and one cannot be on two local authorities housing lists. We have to get the family off the Fingal County Council list and onto the Louth County Council list. In the meantime there might be four weeks without payment. The Minister of State is a very capable person, and I am not just saying that to build my case. This family is in a very bad way. It is not nice when one sees a seven year old child being wheeled into one's office in a wheelchair. I am pleading with the Minister of State, and I have faith in him. Please, can we help this family?

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

Deputy Fitzpatrick raises two very important issues. The first of these is this family and their circumstances. It is so important that we find them a home as quickly as possible. As a Government and as taxpayers, we do not want to see anybody in emergency accommodation. It is not a place to raise a family and it is not a place in which to be. It does not provide value for taxpayers' money either. For everyone in the Dáil, and certainly for everybody in government, the priority is to get people out of emergency accommodation and into permanent accommodation.

Deputy Fitzpatrick also points out that from a taxpayer's point of view, we must use our money better. There is a cheaper solution available to give these people a better home and I am determined that we make that happen. What Deputy Fitzpatrick is asking is that we use common sense. I have no doubt we can do that. Working with Ms Margaret Geraghty and all her team in the Fingal local authority and with Mr. Joe McGuinness and his team in the housing section of the Louth County Council, including Mr. Denis McArdle, we will find a solution to this. I have no doubt about that and my Department officials believe we can do that as well.

It is about trying to find people a housing solution and find them a home. Certainly there is a lot of pressure in the Dublin area and in Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow but the pressure extends even further. I refer to County Cavan, represented by Deputy Brendan Smith, who is in the Chamber. There are housing difficulties in many parts of the country. Thankfully, after a year and a half of Rebuilding Ireland, we are beginning to make the progress we need.

Taxpayers' money is being spent. This year will see almost €2 billion of taxpayers' money spent on housing solutions. This spend includes the local authorities, all the non-governmental organisations, NGOs, that benefit from taxpayers' money and our approved housing bodies. Everybody is coming to the table to provide solutions. We need to do that as quickly as possibly and in a common-sense way. That will involve inter-agency work. It means working at local authority level and that is certainly something we will do.

The Minister and I, along with all the officials in our Department, are determined to be solution-focused and to find a home for as many people as we possibly can. While there is no doubt that the number of homeless is still far too high, last year homes were found for more than 4,000 people. This year we will go way beyond that. As I said, emergency accommodation or a hotel is not a place for a family.