Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is the context in which we are operating. Since I became Minister of State, I have had a reduced capital budget due to a deal made with the troika following the collapse of the economy. Senator Ó Domhnaill seems to have forgotten all about the past. I am not going to say anything more negative than that, and I respect the fact that the other Fianna Fáil Senators spoke in a constructive and genuinely concerned way.

When I took up office as Minister of State with responsibility for housing and planning, I made it clear that tackling the issue of homelessness would be a priority for me. Homelessness is not a label or a category; it is a destructive social condition that can wreak havoc on human dignity and well being. Homelessness is also a complex phenomenon and measures to address it require an integrated approach across the Government. Many Senators made that point.

In February 2013, I published the Government's homelessness policy statement in which the Government's aim to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016 was outlined. The statement emphasises a housing-led approach which is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. The availability and supply of secure, affordable and adequate housing is essential in ensuring sustainable tenancies and ending long-term homelessness.

I also established a homelessness oversight group in February 2013 for the purposes of reviewing the progress of the approach being advocated in the statement, identifying obstacles and proposing solutions. The group recently submitted its first report to me recently and a copy is available on my Department's website. The group believes that the goals of ending long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough can be achieved by 2016. I believe it can be achieved by 2016 as well. It also believes that those objectives can be achieved within the existing envelope of available resources, though that will require a much more efficient and complete use of those resources. However, the group considers that progress towards those goals has been limited so far, and I acknowledge that. The group's first report focuses on the major challenges that need to be overcome to speed up progress, and it identifies the blockages that hamper progress towards the key goals, and recommends how those blockages might be overcome. I recognise the extent of the problem and the fact that new people are presenting as homeless every day.

Specifically, the group recommends the setting up of a high-level team supported by operational personnel to undertake the preparation and publication of a structured plan to make the transition from a shelter-led to a sustainable housing-led response to homelessness and to achieve the 2016 goals for homelessness. This plan will be a delivery plan on providing a ring-fenced supply of accommodation to house homeless households within the next three years and mobilising the necessary supports. That addresses one of the issues raised by Senator Hayden in respect of focusing supply specifically on homeless people. It will contain actions that will be direct, immediate and oriented towards solutions. It is very much a practical implementation plan. The team and unit will involve officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, local authorities, the Health Service Executive and the Department of Social Protection. It is envisaged that the team would report directly to me, as Minister of State for housing and planning, and through me to the Cabinet committee on social policy. I am considering the group's report and its recommendations. I will consult with colleagues in the Government on the implementation of these recommendations, as appropriate. I hope to bring proposals to the Government on this in the very near future.

Past policy on homelessness was driven by short-term measures and an overwhelming emphasis on emergency accommodation. It is widely accepted that housing-led approaches offer the most positive outcomes for those experiencing homelessness. A housing-led approach is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. It includes the prevention of loss of existing housing, and it incorporates the provision of adequate support to people in their homes according to their needs. A housing-led approach will result in a move away from the heavy dependence on expensive emergency accommodation such as hostels and private bed and breakfast accommodation. While it remains important that a proportion of funding is maintained to provide sufficient bed capacity for those in need of emergency accommodation - I commend those who provide that service - resources must be channelled to deliver more permanent responses. The voluntary sector and the various homeless executives and fora around the country are working very closely with us on that.

The most recent data on the number of households qualified for housing support underpins the need for flexible and diverse approaches to be taken to increase the level of social housing supply. Homeless households featured in this data. There is no single solution to supply and my priority is to use all avenues available to me to respond to this housing need. Over €500 million in funding is being made available through my Department in 2014 across a range of housing programmes. I expect that in the region of 5,000 new social housing units will be provided in 2014. These units will be delivered through a range of mechanisms, including through continued investment in leasing and the rental accommodation scheme, the completion of existing capital programmes, mortgage to rent arrangements and the continued transfer of NAMA units.

For the first time in many years, the 2014 budget signalled a return to mainstream local authority housing construction. Senator Landy stressed the importance of that. A €50 million stimulus package was announced for the housing sector on budget day, €30 million of which is being made available for investment in local authority housing. This will allow for a new social housing construction programme to be developed over the period to end 2015 and for a retrofitting programme to return vacant houses to productive use as soon as possible. Some Senators referred to the need to bring back those voids into use for local authorities. I expect that this specific investment will deliver in excess of 500 new homes for households. The detailed arrangements for the implementation of these measures are being compiled by my Department at the moment, and in response to Senator Ó Clochartaigh's question about Galway, I expect to be in a position to announce details very shortly. In 2014, I am determined that the social housing programme will continue to optimise the delivery of good quality social housing and the return for the resources invested.

As acknowledged in the homelessness policy statement, the supply of housing is critical in guaranteeing the success of a housing-led approach. The homelessness oversight group, in its first report, referred to the challenges in maximising supply and recommended a number of solutions in this area. There is a need for greater innovation to accelerate the transfer of homeless people from inappropriate and expensive emergency accommodation into more appropriate and sustainable housing, and to identify the barriers and solutions to accessing a supply of appropriate and adequate housing. It is largely within the various social housing delivery mechanisms that we must find the adequate supply of housing to make a housing-led approach to homelessness a reality.

If we can specify that a certain number of those must go to homeless people and homeless families, we will do so.

I note again that 879 people in Dublin moved from homeless accommodation to independent living in 2012, and that figure is expected to be higher when 2013 end-year results are published. I commend the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, with whom we work, and the voluntary sector in that regard.

We do not have the funding for Exchequer-funded large-scale capital building programmes but I hope that in the years to come we will have more funding and I will certainly seek to maximise the amount of money. Currently, our capital building programmes are still relatively small. The non-governmental sector must play a key role in the delivery of social housing. Approved housing bodies have a record of steady achievement over the past 20 years or so and greater use must be made of the skills and expertise of the sector, in particular the capacity of the sector to attract additional external financial investment will be important.

In regard to NAMA units, which many Senators raised, my Department, the Housing Agency and NAMA continue to work together with housing authorities and approved housing bodies to identify suitable NAMA housing units and bringing them into social housing use. This use may include addressing homelessness where a housing authority deems it suitable. We are looking to see if we can agree that a certain number of those units are for homeless people. By the end of December 2013, 596 units had been completed or contracted under this process.

To respond to Senator Mooney, I acknowledge this has been very slow initially but we have had a number of meetings with NAMA which has now set up a special purpose vehicle that is speeding up the process. We were up to 596 units by the end of 2013 and I expect it will accelerate during this year and that we will reach the 2,000 promised by the end of the lifetime of the Government. The homelessness oversight group, in its first report, considered the role of the AHB sector and NAMA units and recommended a number of solutions in this regard and we want to implement what it has recommended.

Traditionally, it has been difficult to quantify the number of homeless persons on an ongoing basis. This is, in part, a consequence of the volatility within this cohort of housing need. When the homelessness policy statement was published, I announced a set of indicators to be used to demonstrate the dynamics of homelessness as it is addressed. These indicators will give a clearer picture of homelessness in Ireland and, in quantifying its ongoing extent, will support the bringing forward of realistic and practical solutions. The Pathway Accommodation and Support System, PASS, was extended nationally in 2013 and is now operational nationwide. It will assist housing authorities to report on these indicators and 2014 will be the first year for which PASS will produce composite national data on homelessness. These reports will be published on my Department's website as soon as they are available. It is important we have accurate data on which to decide and implement policy.

People become homeless for a variety of reasons and, accordingly, a variety of responses are required. Dublin City Council recently released figures from the November 2013 count of rough sleepers which confirm a minimum of 139 rough sleepers across the Dublin region on a given night. This represents an increase of almost 48% on the April 2013 figure of 94, which is very concerning, or almost 60% on the November 2012 figure of 87. The increasing number of rough sleepers in Dublin reflects the gravity of the challenge facing the Government, the voluntary sector and other agencies in tackling the homelessness problem.

By the end of September 2013, 4,012 unique individuals used homeless emergency accommodation services in the Dublin region. This compares to 4,837 in 2012. The number of new presentations of homeless persons in Dublin averaged at 5.7 per day for the first nine months of 2013. I expect to receive the finalised 2013 figure from Dublin City Council within the coming weeks.

As all Senators have said, it has become increasingly worrying that the number of families presenting as homeless has increased dramatically in recent times. An average of 15 to 20 families are presenting as homeless in Dublin each month. Prevention measures are necessary and essential to ensure that families and all individuals do not become homeless, a point made by Senator Hayden.

The recently announced social impact investment project involving homeless families is addressing, to a large extent, housing supply for homeless families in the Dublin region. The Department is working together on this project with Focus Ireland, Dublin City Council and Clann Credo. This project will move 136 homeless families in Dublin out of private emergency accommodation into suitable long-term accommodation. This is an exciting venture which has the potential to create economic and social returns for the State. It will assist the most vulnerable in society and will provide them with a sustainable tenancy, a home and intensive support to prevent a return to homelessness.

This initiative showcases the combined effort of the State and the voluntary sector as well as the private sector in tackling social problems with a common goal of ensuring better outcomes for those involved. Families and society in general will benefit. I look forward to a successful outcome whereby valuable learning will be gained and this new model of financing social interventions may be applied to other situations in the future.

Approximately one in five households in the country are now renting their accommodation in the private sector, the largest share of the housing market since the 1950s. There is evidence, to which Senators referred, of rents rising far in excess of the rate of inflation, in particular in the cities, suggesting a lack of supply in certain segments of the private rented sector. Other data available suggest a growing pressure on rents especially in the lower segment of the market. It is notable that rising rents bring with them a risk of affordability issues emerging in parts of the private rented sector. My Department is exploring the possibilities for commissioning relevant policy research in this area, including in regard to the potential role of rent controls.

Many Senators said the rent caps, which come under the remit of the Department of Social Protection, are causing difficulties. They are reviewed relatively regularly by the Department of Social Protection but we all recognise this is a real problem. In that context, we are moving to the HAP situation whereby instead of rent supplement for people who have a long-term housing need, they will move under the aegis of the local authorities. The system of payment will be similar to the differential rent schemes. We are starting the pilots on that in the near future and we will eventually move to bring everybody, who has a long-term housing need, under that system. We are also looking to see if there are cohorts of people who can come into that system more quickly and to see if homeless could be one of those categories. I can keep Senators informed of progress on that.

Ending long-term homelessness is an ambitious target. Success will require an enhanced level of partnership between the statutory and non-governmental sectors. It is essential that all partners continue to work effectively together to ensure that every resource made available is efficiently targeted towards a singularity of purpose, namely, to end homelessness and to foster a resettlement culture that promotes independent living.

I am pleased my Department's 2014 national homelessness budget will be maintained at the same level as 2013, that is, €45 million, but I am acutely aware of the demand for services and the cost of delivering such services. This makes it all the more important that effective strategies are used to address and prevent homelessness and that people are moved out of homelessness and into independent living as quickly as possible.

Investment of more than €50 million was provided through my Department and housing authorities towards the provision of homelessness services in 2013 and similar investment is expected in 2014. In addition, the Health Service Executive expends in excess of €30 million annually providing care supports for the homeless. It can be difficult to identify tangible outputs in regard to homelessness services. However, since this Government has taken office, there has been a focus on the development of a more devolved allocation-based system for the provision of accommodation-related funding to housing authorities.

Arrangements were put in place in 2013 to provide for the delegation of homelessness funding to the lead housing authority in each of the nine regions, and this will continue in 2014. The regional approach is considered more appropriate as it helps to bring a more strategic perspective to bear on action to address homelessness, including avoidance of over-concentration of homelessness services in certain centres and promoting appropriate regional availability of services, consistent with need. These arrangements seek to ensure that the measures being pursued by housing authorities reflect the housing-led approach advocated in the policy statement, that actions are in place towards achieving the target of ending long-term homelessness by the end of 2016 and that evidence to support progress will be presented through the reports on the indicators.

I will deal briefly with some of the specific issues raised. Senator Hayden raised the issue of prioritising homelessness.

I have addressed that to some extent in my contribution but the Senator suggested a circular. We will examine the possibility of capturing it in a circular.

Senator Landy referred to the banks. The mortgage to rent scheme is operated by my Department for specific categories of people and it will be extended to cover people with local authority mortgages. I will make an announcement on that later because a large number of people have unsustainable local authority mortgages and they are at risk of homelessness.

Senator Reilly asked about the Dublin budget. My Department provided clarification because one of the problems with local authorities setting budgets is they do not know how much they will receive from the Department when they agree their estimates. We have given them clarity as to what to expect in this regard.

Senator O'Keeffe raised the issue of domestic violence and we have engaged with her on that. We are examining whether those who do not necessarily have a long-term housing need in these circumstances might be eligible to access HAP without having to prove they have a long-term housing need. That may well address that issue.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh asked about borrowing from the EIB. We have made an application for €100 million from the bank to bring flats in major cities back into housing use.

Senator Kelly raised the issue of mooring costs. I have will have to consult the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht about that because I do not know what we can do.

I hope I have addressed the issues raised. I thank all Members for their interest in, and commitment to, this issue. I reiterate my determination to end long-term homelessness by 2016.