Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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349. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the long-term measures being put in place to address the homelessness issue in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44488/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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 accommodation and associated services for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities.

Decisions on the range of emergency accommodation services required are a matter for individual housing authorities in consultation with the Statutory Management Group of the relevant regional joint Homeless Consultative Forum. A Management Group is in place for each homeless region, comprised of representatives from the relevant housing authorities and the Health Service Executive. The Management Group is responsible for considering the need for homeless services and the planning, implementation, funding and coordination of such services.

Increasing the supply of housing, particularly new build social and affordable homes, is a priority for me and for this Government. The Programme for Government commits to increasing the social housing stock by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new builds. In Budget 2021, we backed this objective with funding of €3.3 billion for the delivery of housing. The available funding will deliver 12,750 new social homes through build, acquisition and leasing. A major focus of this investment is the delivery of new build, with an overall target of 9,500 new homes. The targets will see increased local authority build on local authority land.

The Programme for Government recognises that many households experiencing homelessness have additional support needs and includes specific measures to address these needs. These include measures to help rough sleepers into sustainable accommodation, the continued expansion of Housing First, with a focus on the construction and acquisition of one-bed homes, and, importantly, ensuring that there is dedicated funding and resources to deliver the necessary health and mental health supports required to assist homeless people with complex needs.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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350. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the provisions being put into place for those that need independent living in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44489/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Local authorities are responsible for the provision of social housing in their areas, and, as such, decide on the number and specific types of dwellings to provide in their developments, based on identified need.

My Department works closely with local authorities to support the delivery of social housing. This includes the delivery of new social homes through local authority and Approved Housing Body led build, acquisition and leasing schemes and also the provision of supports to maintain people with disabilities within their existing homes.

The Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) provides for the delivery of homes for persons with disabilities, as well as age friendly housing and housing for people who are homeless. In addition, my Department also provides a range of specialised grants, including the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability scheme (up to €30,000) and the Mobility Aids Grant Scheme (up to €6,000). These grants assist people with disabilities to have necessary adaptations, repairs or improvement works carried out and to cover a basic suite of works to address the mobility problems of a member of a household.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on all social housing delivery, including CAS delivery. This is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link:

Additionally, statistical information on Housing Adaptation Grants is available in the same format on my Department website at the following link: