Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of persons who have been deemed by local authorities to be homeless; the number of persons who are sleeping rough; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42587/06]

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on whether the target of ending homelessness set out by the Make Room campaign is achievable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42526/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 109 together.

I have noted the recent launch of the MakeRoom campaign by Focus Ireland, the Simon Communities of Ireland, the Society of St Vincent de Paul and Threshold. The stated aim of the MakeRoom campaign is to end homelessness by 2010 and in this context indicates this to mean "nobody will sleep rough; nobody will stay in emergency accommodation for longer than is absolutely necessary and nobody will become homeless because of a lack of appropriate services".

The social partnership agreement Towards 2016 contains a commitment to the elimination of the long-term occupancy of emergency homeless accommodation by 2010. This is well aligned with the goals of the MakeRoom campaign. It should also be noted that the Homeless Agency, which is the partnership body which coordinates homeless services in Dublin, has already defined as its overarching goal the elimination of long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough in Dublin by 2010.

The Independent Review of Implementation of Homeless Strategies, published earlier this year, examined the implementation of the Government's Integrated and Preventative Homeless Strategies and concluded that they should be amalgamated and updated. The Government have accepted the broad thrust of the recommendations of the Review and work is under way on the preparation of a revised and updated Strategy on Homelessness. As part of this process, a National Homeless Consultative Committee, including representatives from homeless service providers, will be established to provide input into the development of the revised homeless strategy and ongoing government policy on addressing homelessness. Very significant resources are being made available to address the issue of homelessness at national level in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner. Since 2000, the Government through my Department and the Department of Health and Children have provided over €450 million in capital and current funding nationally for the provision of accommodation and care related services for homeless persons.

Recent assessments indicate that there has been a welcome decrease in rough sleeping in Dublin over recent years. According to Counted In 2002, the assessment of homelessness in the Dublin area undertaken by the Homeless Agency in March 2002, 312 people self-reported that they had slept rough for four nights or more in the previous week. The number of persons self-reporting as having slept rough for four nights or more in the most recent assessment, Counted In 2005, undertaken by the Homeless Agency in March 2005, was 185 — a decrease of 40%.

In relation to the overall number of homeless persons in Dublin, Counted In 2005 recorded that the number of homeless households in the Dublin area was 1,361 comprising some 2,015 persons and this represented a 19% reduction in the number of homeless households since the 2002 assessment. This was comparable with the experience of the Dublin Homeless Persons Unit which saw a 20% decrease in the number of households presenting as homeless in the same period.

Nationally, through the vital work of the local homeless fora, there has also been significant progress in reducing the numbers of homeless persons. In the Housing Needs Assessment 2005, local authorities recorded a 46% fall in the numbers of homeless persons nationally, from 5,581 persons in 2002 to 3,031 persons in 2005. In terms of rough sleeping, local authorities reported some 41 people sleeping rough outside of the Dublin area in the Housing Needs Assessment. Including the 185 people sleeping rough reported in the Dublin area, this would indicate that there were 226 people sleeping rough nationally in March 2005.