Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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213. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if a study has been undertaken to provide homeless services outside the main urban centres; and the strategy in place for persons who become homeless in rural Ireland who do not want to be displaced to cities. [27766/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons, including those in rural locations, rests with housing authorities. The various Management Groups, of the regional Joint Homelessness Consultative Fora, are responsible for the preparation of regional statutory Homelessness Action Plans which specify the measures to be undertaken to address homelessness. Section 37 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 provides that such plans be informed by available data, the costs of measures and likely financial resources, as well as Government policies and objectives. It is a requirement of the 2009 Act that these Action Plans be submitted to each of the relevant housing authorities for adoption by the elected representative of the council. Issues around service provision, including access to emergency accommodation within the Region, are integral to the Action Plans.