Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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1076. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the supports available for families living in emergency accommodation in Cork city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59001/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Supporting individuals and families experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness is a priority for Government. Critical to addressing homelessness is increasing the supply of housing.

Budget 2026 has continued the record level of investment in social housing, with €2.9bn in capital allocated to support the delivery of social homes. This continued investment in the social housing programme will increase the supply of stock available to allocate to households on the social housing waiting list, including households in emergency accommodation. It is important that local authorities ensure that sufficient allocations are being made to families in emergency accommodation and a key focus for me is to reduce the time that families are spending in emergency accommodation.

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

A joint Homeless Consultative Forum exists for each region, and it falls on the Management Group of each of these fora to determine the range and number of homeless services and funding required to address homelessness at a local level (Sections 38 and 39(4)(b)(i) of the 2009 Act refers). Decisions on the range and type of homeless accommodation as well as the supports available in emergency accommodation are a matter for individual authorities and my Department has no role in this regard.

Budget 2026 provides an allocation of €513.5m to provide homeless emergency accommodation and supports. Capital funding of €50m has also been allocated to support the provision of quality emergency and transitional accommodation.

The Government's new Housing Plan will be published shortly. The Plan will contain a suite of robust and targeted actions that will increase the provision of housing through accelerating supply and increasing the affordability of homes for our citizens. The Plan will also include a range of measures to address homelessness and reaffirm Programme for Government commitments including the commitment to develop a holistic, cross departmental approach to homelessness prevention and the commitment to ensure special supports for children impacted by homelessness.