Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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51. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress to date on his commitment to a group (details supplied), that all homeless families in emergency accommodation will be housed by July 2017; and the number of families registered as homeless seeking emergency accommodation since he made that commitment. [8978/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I made a commitment in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness - published in July 2016 - that by mid-2017 hotels should only be used in limited circumstances as emergency accommodation for families, months ahead of the engagement I had with the group referred to in late 2016/early 2017. As set out in Rebuilding Ireland, it is intended that the long-term housing needs of homeless families will be met through housing supports, such as the enhanced Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, and general social housing allocations.  The increases in Rent Supplement and Housing Assistance Payment levels from 1 July 2016, along with the recent rent predictability measures which include designated rent pressure zones, are playing an important role in terms of supporting families to remain in rented accommodation. The Dublin Region homeless pilot of HAP saw over 800 independent tenancies created for homeless households in 2016, well ahead of the target of 550. A further 1,200 tenancies are targeted for 2017 across the Dublin Region and this is on track for delivery, with over 300 tenancies for homeless households having been put in place since 1 January 2017.  In addition to the usual local authority delivery channels, it is also expected that the Housing Agency programme to acquire 1,600 units will make a significant contribution, with approximately 330 units secured or bids accepted to date.

To mitigate the issues associated with the volume of homeless families currently accommodated in inappropriate commercial hotel arrangements, housing authorities are pursuing a range of temporary accommodation initiatives.  These initiatives include the expanded Rapid Build Housing Programme set out under Rebuilding Ireland but also the procurement of a number of supported temporary accommodation arrangements.  These supported temporary accommodation arrangements will provide accommodation for homeless families with a greater level of stability than is possible in hotel accommodation, while move-on options to long-term independent living are identified and secured.  Furthermore, such arrangements will facilitate more coordinated needs assessment and support planning for access to all required services, including welfare, health and housing services.

The mid 2017 target is necessarily ambitious but I am happy to note positive progress in relation to family homelessness and the number of associated dependents in recent months. In this regard, the January 2017 national homelessness figures show a marginal decrease on the figures recorded in the previous two months and the volume of families accommodated in hotel arrangements in the Dublin Region has also decreased in a corresponding fashion.  The official homelessness data reports published by my Department are produced using data provide d by housing authorities from the Pathway Accommodation & Support System, the single integrated national data information system on State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements overseen by housing authorities.  These reports are published on my Department's website and can be accessed using the following link: