Written answers

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Homeless Persons Supports

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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288. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of free public transport to children in emergency accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49362/19]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Supporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness is a priority for this Government. Rebuilding Ireland, the Government's Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness includes a range of measures  relating to the provision of emergency accommodation and the range of supports to be provided to households experiencing homelessness.

Under Rebuilding Ireland, my Department is funding an initiative to provide homeless families residing in temporary emergency accommodation in the Dublin Region with access to free public transport for essential school journeys.  The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) oversees the implementation of this initiative and, working in partnership with the National Transport Authority, has put arrangements in place for the provision of Leap cards to the families concerned.  These Leap cards provide for free public transport for school-going children and accompanying adults, where necessary.

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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289. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the pilot project that will be introduced to support the family functioning of homeless families in emergency accommodation by providing off-site or near-site family time, including play, homework, cooking and washing facilities, family support and parent support. [49363/19]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Supporting families experiencing homelessness is a key priority of Government.  Rebuilding Ireland, the Government's Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness, includes the objective that hotels will only be used in limited circumstances as emergency accommodation for families.  Rebuilding Ireland also sought to ensure that families experiencing homelessness are provided with appropriate emergency accommodation and supports until such time as a home can be secured.  To meet this objective, housing authorities are pursuing the delivery of a range of additional and enhanced family-focused facilities, or family hubs.   

Family hubs offer family living arrangements with a greater level of stability than is possible in hotel accommodation, with the capacity to provide appropriate play-space, cooking and laundry facilities and communal recreation space. This setting also allows for more intensive supports to be provided to families where needed while move-on options to long-term tenancies are identified and secured.  

There are currently 30 hubs operational nationally, offering almost 690 units of family accommodation in urban areas.  There are 23 family hubs in Dublin, two in Kildare and one each in Clare, Cork, Limerick, Louth and Galway.  Further facilities will become operational through the end of 2019 and on an ongoing basis into 2020, details of which will become available as projects are finalised by housing authorities.

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