Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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389. To ask the Minister for Health if funding will be provided to open the remaining 49 beds in a health and addiction care facility (details supplied); the timeline she is working towards in ensuring that all 100 beds are made operational; the reason the funding required to operate at full capacity has not been provided to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27940/25]

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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The new community care facility for people who are homeless is collaborative project between Government and the Dublin Simon Community to improve access to healthcare services. The facility includes step-up and step-down beds for acute services, and inpatient treatment beds for drug stabilisation, detoxification and recovery.

The Department of Health has provided an additional €5.9m to-date to meet the operational costs for 51 beds in the new facility and to incrementally increase capacity. This represents the largest single investment by the Department in healthcare services for people who are homeless and is equivalent to 10% of the total expenditure.

It is expected that the new facility will deliver c 700 treatment episodes per annum across different clinical programmes. This will represent an increase in the delivery of treatment episodes of 24%, with a 26% Increase in referrals from hospitals & HSE addiction services.

Monitoring and evaluation of the services in the new facility will be undertaken, with the publication of an annual report on activity levels and client outcomes, and the commissioning of an independent evaluation in 2026.

The Department is committed to providing additional funding to further increase the capacity of the new facility on an incremental basis, subject to an agreed business plan between the HSE and the Dublin Simon Community. Demonstrating the need for additional services and ensuring value for money will be key components of the business case. The business case, when received, will be considered in the context of the 2026 Estimates process.

I look forward to working in partnership with the HSE and Dublin Simon Community to maximise the full potential of the new community care facility, for the benefit of people who are homeless.