Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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812. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if those families who are awaiting placement through the homeless central placement service have homeless priority on the local authorities' housing lists; if they receive homeless priority status from the day they present to the placement service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14691/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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813. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the current direction provided by his Department to the central placement service for the four Dublin local authorities; if persons will retain their place on a Dublin City Council housing list with homeless priority if they are placed in emergency accommodation in Fingal county, for example; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14692/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 812 and 813 together.

Successfully tackling the current homelessness issue in the Dublin Region demands that a higher priority be afforded to homeless households in the allocation of housing. Accordingly, I issued a Direction to the four Dublin local authorities on 27 January 2015 to prioritise homeless and other vulnerable households. This Direction applies for six months, from 27 January 2015 to 26 July 2015.

Under this Direction each of the Dublin housing authorities must ensure that at least 50% of the dwellings available for allocation under Section 22 of the 2009 Act during the specified period will be allocated to households that are qualified for social housing support (i.e. those who are on the record of qualified households) and that, on or before 1 December 2014, have been deemed by the authority to have one or more than one of the following needs:

(i) was in an institution, emergency accommodation or a hostel (i.e. a homeless household within the meaning of Section 2 of the Housing Act 1988);

(ii) has an accommodation requirement arising from an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment (i.e. households where one of its members has a disability and as such is deemed to be a vulnerable household); and

(iii) was in accommodation that was unsuitable for the household's adequate housing on exceptional medical or compassionate grounds (i.e. including households the subject of domestic violence and young people leaving State care and as such deemed to be a vulnerable household).

A copy of this Direction is available on my Department's website at:

Emergency accommodation funded under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 is not classified as a form of social housing support, and the fact that a person is in such accommodation does not affect his or her homeless status on the housing waiting list. A household may apply for social housing to only one housing authority but on qualification for support, may be entered on the waiting lists of a maximum of three authorities in the city and council concerned.