Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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74. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to develop a national plan for traveller housing in view of the housing crisis that exists for travellers and the urgent need that 819 units of housing be provided for them; if it is intended to set up a national housing agency for traveller housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43690/13]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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75. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total budget allocation provided in the estimates each year for the past ten years for traveller accommodation; the actual spend each year; the total cumulative underspend in that time and the reason for same; his views on whether this underspend indicates an inability by the local authorities to deal with this issue in view of the crisis in traveller accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43691/13]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the action he will take to deal with the fact that 3,600 or 11% of the traveller population of the State are officially homeless; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43692/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 to 76, inclusive, together.

In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes, designed to meet these needs, rests with individual housing authorities. My Department’s role is to ensure that there is an adequate legislative and financial system in place to assist the authorities in providing such accommodation.

Accommodation for Travellers is provided across a range of options including standard local authority housing which is financed from my Department’s capital allocations for social housing, Traveller-specific accommodation, private housing assisted by the housing authority or voluntary organisations, private rented accommodation and through their own resources. It is open to Travellers to opt for any form of accommodation; including Traveller-specific accommodation and local authority Traveller Accommodation Programmes are intended to reflect these preferences. My Department provides 100% capital funding for Traveller-specific accommodation and also provides funding for accommodation related supports to operate in tandem with the capital programme.

In accordance with the 1998 Act, housing authorities are statutorily required to prepare and adopt multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes for their areas. The current round of Traveller Accommodation Programmes for the period 2009 - 2013 are due to be completed in December and authorities are currently making arrangements for the next round of programmes which will run from 2014 to 2018. In preparing their Traveller Accommodation Programmes, housing authorities are required to identify the accommodation needs of Traveller families within their functional area and to set out how these needs are to be met, using all the housing supply options available to housing authorities including through Traveller-specific accommodation.

The Government remains committed to meeting the accommodation needs of Travellers. Since the adoption of the third round of programmes in 2009, it is estimated that over 450 units of Traveller-specific accommodation had been provided to end 2012, supported by the provision of approximately €50 million in capital funding from my Department. Over €7 million is being provided for Traveller accommodation purposes this year. This is in addition to expenditure on standard local authority housing and other housing supports. The results of this substantial financial commitment are reflected in the significant reduction in the numbers of Traveller families on unauthorised sites, notwithstanding the steady increase in the numbers of Traveller families nationally over recent years.

The National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (NTACC) is a statutory body established for the purposes of advising me on all matters relating to housing for Travellers. This committee includes representation from local authorities, other Government Departments and Traveller groups. The fifth such committee since the enactment of the 1998 legislation held its first meeting last week and has already set about preparing its work programme for the next three years. A proposal for a statutory Traveller accommodation agency, as set out in the 1995 Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community, was considered by my Department. However, it was subsequently decided not to establish such an Agency and, having regard to the inclusive and effective consultation arrangements already in place through the NTACC, I have no plans to review the matter.

Details of the capital allocations to housing authorities over the past 10 years for Traveller-specific accommodation, the amounts recouped by my Department and the overspend/underspend in each of these years are set out in the following table:

Over this 10-year period, housing authorities have drawn down almost 80% of the available capital allocations. Due to a range of issues associated with the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation projects, some local authorities were unable to draw down their full capital allocation. When requested by my Department to account for variations between Traveller accommodation targets and output, housing authorities cited a number of reasons including Traveller families refusing offers of accommodation, families only willing to live in certain areas where housing availability may be an issue, difficulties in obtaining Traveller agreement locally, planning and legal problems, difficulties in obtaining site access and anti-social behavior by Traveler families which can delay development of projects.

The Central Statistics Office’s special Census report, Homeless Persons in Ireland, which was published on 6 September 2012, indicated that on Census night, 10 April, 2011, a total of 3,808 individuals were sleeping rough or housed in accommodation defined as emergency, transitional or long-term. Of this total, some 163 Irish Travellers were enumerated as homeless, making up just over 4 per cent of the homeless population.