Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide an update on the review of section 10 funding for homelessness service providers; and the changes he intends to make to this funding stream, in light of the near financial collapse of an organisation (details supplied) in 2023. [36134/25]

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Eoin Ó Broin. Will the Minister to provide an update on the review of section 10 funding for homelessness service providers and the changes he intends to make to this funding stream in light of the near financial collapse of an organisation in 2023?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much for requesting an update on the review of the section 10 funding for homelessness services and the changes I intend to make to this funding stream. Supporting individuals and families facing homelessness is a priority for the Government. I recognise the vital work of the NGO sector and its valuable contribution to the lives of those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. My Department regularly engages with the sector on all aspects of homeless policy, including funding arrangements.

Significant progress has been made in addressing concerns raised within the NGO homelessness services sector about the adequacy of funding. A number of uplifts to cost-of-living increases have been agreed and applied to service level agreements over the past two and a half years, including pay increases on foot of negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission. Last year, my Department conducted an internal review of the section 10 funding model, focusing on issues of governance and public expenditure oversight compliance. The final report of the review will be finalised in the coming weeks. In addition, a recent review conducted by the City and County Managers Association examined the funding provided to NGOs for homelessness services. The report was presented to the Department in March 2025 and I have asked officials to progress implementation of the recommendations, including costing of recommendations and consultation with stakeholders.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Peter McVerry Trust almost went bankrupt in the summer of 2023. The core issue was the use of capital funding to cross-subsidise the day-to-day running costs of the organisation. It ran up a liability of almost €20 million. There have been two independent regulator reports on the issues. It is totally unacceptable that the provision of homelessness services has been privatised and commercialised out. Why is 100% of the funding not given? Why is it 90%? Why is it that homelessness service providers must outbid each other? What is that about? It is the Government's responsibility to look after homeless people and provide emergency accommodation and services. Why is the Government not doing this? Why has it been turned into a commercial system where providers are pitted against each other? This was always going to happen. The question is why it was allowed to happen.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy knows, efforts are ongoing to reduce the reliance on commercial hotels to accommodate families, with the preferred model being the provision of supported accommodation operated by NGO providers. The increasing numbers in emergency accommodation have led to increased pressures on housing authorities to provide sufficient accommodation. To increase provision, housing authorities are heavily reliant on private emergency accommodation. Capital funding of €25 million is being made available to housing authorities and NGOs for the delivery of high-quality, supported emergency accommodation for families and individuals experiencing homelessness.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I asked the Minister a couple of questions and he answered none of them. Why is 100% of the funding not being given to homelessness service providers? Why are they put into a bidding war with each other in trying to provide homelessness services for people? Was there any oversight of what was happening? There had to be a €15 million bailout of the Peter McVerry Trust, a trust that was set up to support homeless people. Government policy over the years has been to farm these services out and to do a Pontius Pilate and wash its hands of it. We need funding now. What we should have is funding to 100% and providers given the support they need to provide the services. What changes does the Minister intend to make to ensure this does not happen again? I know he said a report is coming shortly. How many private contractors or suppliers have not been paid by the trust arising from its near collapse? What is the value of these liabilities and what are the Minister and the Department going to do to ensure these liabilities are cleared and paid off?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I hear the Deputy saying he wants to trust the NGOs more but also to have more oversight of them. The NGOs here do phenomenally good work. We are providing record funding to address homelessness. What we want to do, though, is to prevent homelessness occurring in the first place and that is why we are making rapid decisions to significantly increase the supply of housing right across the country. Until we can address the homelessness situation, however, we will continue to support the NGOs and the local authorities to provide the housing needed for people who find themselves in need of emergency accommodation. We do not want to be relying on the private sector but the accommodation is simply not there now. The most important thing is that people have the emergency accommodation they need when they need it, and that is what we are doing.