Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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617. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide a bibliography of all sources used to arrive at the conclusion that homeless figures here are low by international standards as per his recent public statement. [48827/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I have consistently indicated that the current level of homelessness is unacceptable and that it is essential that we continue to make every possible effort to address this. Nevertheless, in order to ensure that we are designing and implementing policy supports that are compassionate and effective, and in order to get a better understanding of which responses are working and which are not, international comparisons must be made. It is because of this very practice that we have moved to introduce Housing First here in Ireland. In this way we can better meet the needs of people who are experiencing a very traumatic time in their lives, by looking to other practices as well as our own and adopting the best response.

When commenting on comparisons between countries, my focus is on countries that are broadly similar in socio-economic and cultural terms, without any reference to developing countries where homelessness is often a major societal issue.  Furthermore my comments are based upon the understanding that homelessness means people sleeping rough or those residing in emergency accommodation for homeless persons – i.e. ‘rooflessness’ and ‘houselessness’ – rather than incorporating all categories of housing exclusion, such as individuals living in overcrowded housing or adult children living with their parents; such individuals would be included in housing authorities’ waiting lists if approved for social housing supports.  It is important that this separation is made.

 There are a number of sources that indicate that the rate of homelessness per capita is higher on a pro-rata basis across most European countries than it is in Ireland. This assessment is evident in an OECD report published in July 2017, and while it does state that it should not be used as a league table, it does show trends in those countries presented, which are useful when analysed against our own. One of the most comprehensive EU comparisons ever carried out which was published by FEANTSA (European Federation of National Associations Working with the Homeless) in 2014, found Ireland to have one of the lowest rates of homelessness among the Member States analysed.

Of course, direct international comparisons cannot be precise because of the availability, quality and consistency of homeless data at the international level.  Nevertheless, going beyond these reports, both England (Department of Community and Local Government) and Scotland (Scottish Government) produce homeless statistics, which are available online, that are sufficiently similar to Irish statistics in terms of timeliness, quality and categorisation to allow direct comparisons be readily made in relation to those in emergency accommodation.  An analysis of the latest statistics from both those jurisdictions demonstrates that a significantly higher number of households are accommodated in temporary arrangements in England and Scotland than is the case here in Ireland.

As indicated earlier, irrespective of international comparisons, I remain clear that the level of homelessness in this country is unacceptable and addressing it will continue to be a top priority for me and the Government.