Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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261. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update under Housing for All to increase Housing First targets to 1,200 tenancies over five years for homeless people. [7123/23]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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278. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of Housing First tenancies that have materialised as targeted under 3.4 of Housing For All; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7331/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 261 and 278 together.

Housing First recognises that a stable home provides the basis for recovery in other areas. With Housing First, the priority is to support a person who has experienced homelessness into permanent housing as quickly as possible, without any preconditions around addiction or mental health treatment. Then, intensive work continues on these issues once they are housed. Housing First has been a key element of Government homelessness policy.

The Housing First approach to addressing homelessness places direct access to housing first and foremost for vulnerable individuals using homeless services consistently or intermittently over long periods of time, and those unable or resistant to accessing homeless services and who may then become habitual rough sleepers. These individuals often have complex high support needs such as mental or physical health problems, addiction issues or dual diagnosis (the presence of mental ill health and a substance addiction).

Housing for All, A New Housing Plan for Ireland committed to the further expansion of Housing First. A new National Implementation Plan, which provides for a further 1,319 tenancies covering the period 2022-2026, was published in December 2021. The new Plan outlines the targets for each region and in each year.

Data on the number of Housing First tenancies created are published every three months as part of my Department's Homeless Quarterly Progress Reports. The report for Q4 2022 shows that a total of 240 Housing First tenancies had been created since the launch of the Housing First National Implementation Plan 2022-2026. A copy of the report is available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/6c594-homeless-quarterly-progress-report-for-q4-2022/