Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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209. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the total number of persons struck off the local authority housing list for each of the years 2014 to 2016 in counties Sligo and Leitrim; the reason for same; the number of persons currently in emergency accommodation in the counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14967/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As part of the reporting process for the 2016 Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA), which provided details on the number of households qualified for social housing support as at 21 September 2016, local authorities were requested to provide data on the number of households removed from their lists under this process.

Data submitted by Sligo and Leitrim County Councils in this regard indicate that these authorities removed, respectively, 394 and 248 households from their records of qualified households.

The Councils reported a range of reasons for the removal of households under the 2016 process. Almost three quarters of the  households removed by Sligo County Council were excluded for failing to engage with the Council or a failure to meet all of the eligibility criteria. A similar proportion of the numbers removed by Leitrim County Council were for a failure by households to meet all of the eligibility criteria, households no longer residing in the Council's administrative area or a failure to engage with the Council.

Under the 2016 SSHA process, housing authorities were required to review those households who were on their housing list to ensure that the details of the applicant households are up to date and accurate and that they remain eligible for, and in need of, social housing support in accordance with the criteria set down in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations. As part of this assessment, all local authorities wrote to relevant households during 2016, including those in transitional and shared or emergency accommodation where relevant, informing them of the assessment process and seeking updated information where necessary.

Where a household responded and was found to no longer meet the qualification criteria for social housing support in light of their updated details, they were removed from the list.

In the event of an initial non-response by a household to a request for updated information, guidance issued by the Housing Agency advised housing authorities to contact the household again and to use all reasonable means of communication available to them in contacting the applicant. Authorities were also advised to undertake local advertising campaigns informing households about the Summary. Where a number of attempts to contact a household failed to elicit a response, authorities were advised that it was not unreasonable to then close the household’s application. However, housing authorities were also advised that should the household subsequently respond with the information required within a reasonable time, the application could be re-activated.

Detailed and complete data on the total number of households removed from all housing authority lists as part of the process for the SSHA 2016, and the reasons for such removal, is not yet available. Provisional figures based on replies from 25 of the 31 housing authorities indicate that in excess of 28,000 households were removed from lists as part of the 2016 SSHA process. Once the complete data set is compiled and verified, it will be published on my Department’s website, www.housing.gov.ie.

My Department does not hold information on the number of households that were removed from the lists that may be in emergency accommodation. Monthly homelessness data reports are produced by housing authorities using the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS), the single integrated national data information system on State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements overseen by housing authorities. The data is collated on a regional basis with the counties of Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal comprising the North-West region. My Department collates this information into monthly national homeless reports, which are available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.