Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In line with commitments made in Programme for Government and Housing for All, a national Youth Homelessness Strategy was published in November 2022. The Strategy aims to help young people aged 18-24 who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. It sets out 27 key actions to prevent youth homelessness; improve the experiences of young people accessing emergency accommodation; and assist young people in exiting homelessness. A Steering Group, comprising representatives from organisations with a role in addressing youth homelessness, was established in January 2023 to drive the delivery of all actions.

One of the main actions in the Strategy is to develop a pilot of a housing-led intervention for young people, Supported Housing for Youth (SHY). This intervention is aimed at those aged 18-24 who are experiencing homelessness and who require additional supports to maintain a tenancy. The pilot will run in the Dublin region. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) published an Expression of Interest in October 2023 seeking submissions from NGOs interested in providing accommodation and/or support services for SHY. A number of NGOs have now been identified and it is anticipated that the pilot will launch during 2024.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 requires all local authorities, as a reserved function, to make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of dwellings to households qualified for social housing support and to households approved for a transfer, the allocation of which would, in the opinion of the authority, meet the accommodation needs and requirements of the households.

My Department does not hold information on the number of households on the local authority social housing transfer lists. The management of these lists is a matter for individual local authorities and the numbers fluctuate continually as, for example, households are granted transfers, in accordance with an authority’s allocation scheme, to take up other accommodation options.