Gabrielle McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

448. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the criteria used by his Department to allocate respective funding from the national homelessness budget to the eight regions in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47345/14]

Gabrielle McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

449. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the criteria that will be used by his Department to allocate respective funding from the national homelessness budget for 2015 to the regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47346/14]

Gabrielle McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

450. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason there is a clear disparity in funding allocation from the national homelessness budget between the midlands region and other regions, for example, statutory funding for the midlands region is less than half of the north east funding even though the population of the midlands is greater that the north east by more than 25,000 persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47347/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 448 to 450, inclusive, together.

Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation for homeless persons and related services rests with housing authorities. The purposes for which housing authorities may incur expenditure in addressing homelessness are prescribed in Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988.

The Section 10 funding provided by my Department to housing authorities on a regional basis for the years 2009 to 2013 is set out in the following table.

In the period 2009 to 2012, Section 10 funding was provided by my Department at the rate of 90% of the costs incurred with the housing authority providing 10% from their own resources. From 2013 onwards, Section 10 funding is allocated to housing authorities on a regional basis through delegated funding arrangements. The basis for the 2013 allocations was to use the 2012 levels of recoupment as a percentage of the overall budget. Those proportions were maintained in 2013 and 2014 as outlined in the following table.

During 2013 a national allocation of €45 million was available through my Department to housing authorities under Section 10 which represented a decrease of 3.32% on the 2012 outturn of €46.546 million. This 3.32% reduction was applied equally to each of the 9 regional allocations for homeless services in 2013.

In 2014, regional allocations were maintained at the same level as 2013 and €649,707, representing approximately 1.4% of the national budget, was allocated in respect of the Midlands Region.

Budget 2015 confirmed that an additional €10.5 million will be available for homeless services across the country in 2015. This is an increase in funding of over 20% bringing the Exchequer contribution to €55.5 million. The additional funding will ensure continued progress toward the achievement of the 2016 target of ending involuntary long-term homelessness and will assist in meeting commitments outlined in the Implementation Plan on the State’s Response to Homelessness. My Department is currently considering the appropriate allocation of the 2015 homelessness budget so as to ensure that Section 10 homeless funding contributes to meeting the needs in the various regions.

Funding provided under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988