Written answers

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Homeless Persons Data

Photo of Mary ButlerMary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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300. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of persons in emergency accommodation for longer than six months in Waterford city and county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6112/18]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department publishes reports on a monthly basis regarding the number of individuals utilising emergency accommodation arrangements that are overseen by housing authorities. These reports include a breakdown of the homeless adult population. These official homeless reports are published on my Department's website and can be accessed using the following link:.

These monthly reports do not include details with regard to those homeless longer than six-months.

Separately to the monthly reports, housing authorities submit quarterly reports to my Department at the regional level. For the purposes of the regional administration of homeless services Waterford is included in the South-East Region along with the counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Wexford. The most recently submitted report to my Department indicates that on the last date of 2017, a total of 193 adult individuals were in emergency accommodation for longer than six months, consecutively or continuously, in the South-East Region.

Photo of Mary ButlerMary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of persons sleeping rough voluntarily and involuntarily in Waterford city and county in 2016, 2017 and January 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6113/18]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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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 homeless services, including accommodation, rests with individual housing authorities. It should be noted that the matter referred to is an operational matter for Waterford City and County Council, in the first instance.

Official rough sleeper counts were conducted in a number of major urban centres on Census night April 2016 and no individuals were recorded sleeping on the streets of Waterford. Given that the problem of rough sleeping is limited in most urban centres, including Waterford, official counts are not collected on an ongoing basis. Nevertheless, I understand that Waterford City and County Council is aware of a small number of individuals that may engage in rough sleeping despite the availability of services including emergency accommodation. Outreach teams continue to work to try and provide solutions for this group and to encourage these persons to avail of accommodation.

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