Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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527. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which her Department has the capacity to address the issue of children whose families are homeless; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33836/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Homelessness among children and families remains a serious problem. In September there were 1,173 families in emergency accommodation, including 1,568 adults and 2,426 dependents. I am committing to supporting implementation of Rebuilding Ireland: the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. We have made some progress in this regard, but more remains to be done.

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) is working to provide free public transport for family travel and for school journeys for those homeless families in the Dublin Region who are residing in hotel accommodation. Each family is being given five 24-hour family LEAP cards, which will be valid for use on all Dublin transport systems, allowing for family days out at weekends or during holiday periods. Distribution of the family cards is almost complete. This will be quickly followed by the distribution of the school journey cards.

My Department is funding research, commissioned by Focus Ireland, to identify issues regarding access to food and potential nutritional impacts on families in emergency homeless accommodation.

My Department is also enhancing access to early years services for homeless families through a new Community Childcare Subvention Scheme for homeless children. It will provide part-time childcare for children aged between 0 and 6 years of age. It is planned to launch the Scheme next January.

Also, I recently secured the agreement of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government that the provision of accommodation for young people leaving State care would be eligible for funding under the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) operated by his Department. My Department and Tusla will work to ensure that any accommodation proposed, and ultimately delivered, will be provided with the appropriate levels of protective factors for the young person making the transition to independent living.

Many of the remaining child-focussed actions in the Action Plan are being advanced by Tusla and progress is being made on several fronts. The joint protocol between Tusla and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive governing child welfare and protection matters is fully operational and it is intended to replicate this protocol across the State.