Written answers

Tuesday, 7 October 2025

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Homeless Accommodation

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

317. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide an update on the County And City Management Association review of Section 10 funding; when the review was published; the main recommendations of the review; which of these have been accepted by his Department; and to publish a copy of the review on his Department website. [53808/25]

Photo of James BrowneJames Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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 housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of emergency accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities.

My Department does not fund any homeless services directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards these costs. Under the funding arrangements, housing authorities must provide at least 10% of the cost of services from their own resources. Housing authorities may also incur additional expenditure on homeless related services outside of these funding arrangements with my Department.

Significant progress has been made in addressing concerns raised within the NGO homeless services sector in relation to the adequacy of funding. My Department continues to work closely with local authorities and the NGO sector on these issues and regularly engages with the sector, on all aspects of homeless policy including funding arrangements.

The review conducted by the City and County Managers’ Association (CCMA) examined the current Section 10 funding model with a view to ensuring greater consistency and addressing concerns raised by service providers. The CCMA report was presented to my Department in March 2025 and includes 21 recommendations designed to ensure a more consistent, transparent and sufficient funding practice across the sector. These recommendations span a range of issues raised by the NGO sector and local authorities in relation to regional structures, the funding model and tendering processes. Substantive issues on costs were examined with a recommendation that core service provision required by the commissioning local authority should be funded through Section 10 only and fundraising monies raised by NGOs should only be used to subsidise any additional, value added or discretionary elements.

I have instructed my Department to progress implementation of the recommendations appropriate to the Department. The publication of the S10 Review report is a matter for the CCMA.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.