Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

147. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on the recent record levels of people accessing emergency accommodation; the action he is taking to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3575/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The continuing increase in the numbers accessing emergency accommodation is a serious concern for me and for the Government. We are doing everything in our power to tackle this problem, both by increasing housing supply and investing in homelessness prevention.

The Government is investing significantly in social and affordable housing, with record funding allocated for current and capital investment in housing this year alone.

The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 was signed into law on 29 October 2022. The Act makes emergency provision to defer the termination dates of certain residential tenancies that fall, or would fall, during the period beginning on 30 October 2022 and ending on 31 March 2023 in order to mitigate the risk that persons whose tenancies would otherwise be terminated during that period would be unable to obtain alternative accommodation. To assist in managing demands on housing services after the winter emergency period and ensure that there is no cliff edge impact on 1 April, the Act provides for deferred Notices of Termination to take effect on a phased basis over the period from 1 April to 18 June 2023.

I have introduced further measures to increase supply, including the new voids programme with an emphasis on quick turnaround and re-letting, the pilot expansion of the Repair and Leasing scheme and the reinstatement of the delegated sanction to local authorities for social housing acquisitions. I also want to make it abundantly clear that there are no impediments, from my Department’s point of view, to the acquisition of homes with HAP or RAS tenants in situ and I have strongly advised the Local Authorities to be proactive in this regard.

Local authorities are funded to provide tenancy sustainment and prevention services and I have tasked the National Homelessness Action Committee to make recommendations on new prevention measures. I have also increased the HAP discretion rate from the previous 20%, to a maximum of 35% for all local authority areas. Furthermore I published the Youth Homeless Strategy on 9 November 2022 that sets out 27 distinct actions to prevent young people entering 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 to prevent homelessness, will allow us to meet the challenge of reducing the unacceptable numbers currently in emergency accommodation and ultimately to eradicate homelessness.