Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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271. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the supports that are available for local authority frontline staff in the homeless sections such as training in trauma-informed care and counselling to assist them in dealing with the growing levels of homeless presentations. [57291/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of homeless accommodation and related services rests with individual local authorities. 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 local authorities in addressing homelessness at a local level.

While responsibility for the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities, the administration of homeless services is organised on a regional basis, with nine administrative regions in place. 

A homelessness consultative forum has been established in each region in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009.  It is a matter for the management group of the consultative forum, in the first instance, to determine the services and the funding required to address homelessness in each region.

It is the responsibility of each housing authority to ensure that an appropriately staffed homeless action team are in place to address homelessness in each administrative area. In doing so housing authorities should ensure action teams are configured and resourced with the appropriate skill sets, decision-making ability and functional capacity to address homelessness at a local level.

Furthermore I launched the Youth Homelessness Strategy on 9 November 2022. The Strategy recognises that many young people within homeless services have undergone significant traumatic experiences. Accordingly, the Strategy contains a specific action to ensure that service providers are trained in developmentally informed approaches, including trauma-informed care. Local authorities play a vital role in addressing youth homelessness and have been requested to advise if additional resources are required in order to ensure the successful implementation of the actions in this Strategy.