Written answers

Thursday, 14 February 2013

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

Homeless Persons Numbers

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of homeless persons in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7943/13]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Historically, there has been considerable difficulty in quantifying the numbers of persons homeless at any given time and this is in part a consequence of the volatility within this cohort of housing need. For that reason information on the number of homeless persons in Meath is not available. However, the Housing Agency’s Housing Needs Assessment 2008 and 2011 reports break down the categories of housing need, including in respect of homelessness, for all 88 housing authorities nationwide. These are available on my Department’s website at This statutory assessment of housing need, carried out every three years by all housing authorities, only counts homeless persons where an application has been made to a housing authority. On 6 September 2012, the CSO published its special Census report, Homeless Persons in Ireland and it indicated that 32 persons were either sleeping rough or in accommodation designated for the homeless on the night of 10 April 2011 in the d East Region which includes Counties Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. I will shortly publish a policy statement on homelessness. In this statement I will be indicating what I expect from housing authorities and other stakeholders in accelerating progress towards realising the ambition of eliminating involuntary long-term homelessness.

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