Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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682. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of children that have spent time in homeless services over the past five years by age groups of zero to five, five to ten and ten to 16 years of age; the length of time each child has spent in homeless services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51879/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department currently publishes data on a monthly basis outlining the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities. These reports are based on data provided by housing authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS). The reports are collated on a regional basis and are published on my Department's website. The most recent figures currently available are for October 2019. These figures show that 6,688 adults and 3,826 associated dependents accessed emergency accommodation nationwide during the relevant count week.

My Department does not have the specific data sought in relation to the time spent in emergency accommodation by age group. Quarterly performance reports prepared by the local authorities on a regional basis provide information on the duration of time spent by adult individuals in emergency accommodation. The most recent reports available are for Quarter 3 2019, which show that 38% of adult individuals had been accessing emergency accommodation for less than 6 months, while 62% had been accessing emergency accommodation for more than six months.

My Department has financed the upgrade of PASS, the case management and reporting system used by local authorities, which is due to take place early in 2020, and which will provide for more detailed reporting in this and other areas.