Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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269. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures that he is taking to tackle the increase in homelessness in recent months. [45603/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The continuing increase in the numbers accessing emergency accommodation throughout the country is a serious concern. The Government, local authorities and others are making every effort to reduce homelessness. Key to this is the delivery of new social housing and boosting overall supply of homes.

The Government is investing significantly in social and affordable housing, with record funding allocated for current and capital investment in housing this year alone. This year funding is in place to deliver 11,800 social homes, including 9,000 new build homes, thus building on the progress made last year when 9,183 new social homes were provided, a 17% increase on 2020.

I established the National Homeless Action Committee (NHAC) with the immediate priority of examining measures to prevent homelessness. A number of Committee subgroups have been established to examine specific measures that have been identified. Progress on all prevention measures is discussed at each meeting of NHAC.

To build upon this, local authorities will shortly participate in a Homelessness Prevention Workshop, run by the Housing Agency, aimed at examining homelessness prevention and discussing the measures that are most impactful.

The Youth Homelessness Strategy is now in the process of being finalised. Five key consultations for the strategy have now concluded. NHAC members will be invited to provide feedback on the final draft. It is anticipated that the Strategy will be published in Q4 2022.

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) discretion rate has been increased to 35% and the couple’s rate has now been expanded to single persons for new tenancies.  This will secure more tenancies and prevent new entries into homelessness. Local authorities are prioritising tenancy support services, prevention and the use of the Placefinder service for HAP tenancies. 

The Housing Agency, in partnership with the HSE and in consultation with key Departments and agencies has developed a good practice guide for the operation of Assertive Street Outreach services. This guide is intended to be a flexible tool for sharing good practice and ideas for Assertive Street Outreach and will assist regions in expanding outreach services into areas in which rough sleeping is understood to be a concern.

Following the success of the voids programme, which delivered over 6,000 units in 2020 and 2021, a new Voids programme has been introduced for 2022, with an emphasis on quick turnaround and re-letting of vacant social housing stock. In addition, in line with the commitment in Housing for All to support local authorities to drive take up of the enhanced Repair and Leasing scheme, the Government has recently approved a pilot expansion which will open the scheme to a wider range of owners, by removing the criteria that a property owner must be unable to fund or access funding to bring former vacant commercial and institutional buildings back into use under the Repair and Leasing scheme. These measures will increase supply of homes to those on social housing waiting lists, including those in emergency accommodation.

Recently, I also reinstated the delegated sanction to local authorities in respect of social housing acquisitions that meet certain criteria.  This will allow local authorities more flexibility to secure acquisitions which support a household to exit or to prevent homelessness.

We are providing more social homes, we are completing more homes in general and we have a strong pipeline of homes commenced. This supply activity, as well as targeted measures specifically centred on homelessness, will allow us to meet the challenge of eradicating homelessness.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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270. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider reintroducing a ban on evictions given the rising numbers of homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45605/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and public health posed by the spread of Covid-19 and in order to mitigate, where practicable, the effect of the spread of that disease, the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 provided for a temporary moratorium on tenancy terminations, other than in exceptional and limited cases during the emergency period from 27 March 2020 to 1 August 2020.

The operation of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 - 2022 and the residential rental market, are kept under constant review by my Department, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and the Housing Agency and I will bring forward any necessary and justifiable legal change in a timely manner.