COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 12, 2015

QUESTION NO.10

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to report on actions he proposes following the recent Homeless Summit organised by the Minister for Environment and Local Government at the Custom House and will he also confirm if he has sought additional funding to allow him deal with the matter here in our County?

REPLY:

 Homelessness is dealt with on a regional basis and in terms of Dublin the region encompasses the four Dublin authorities with Dublin City Council as the lead authority. The key actions outlined in the response as announced by the Minister for Environment Community and Local Government to homelessness that are relevant to the Dublin region are as follows:

260 additional emergency beds To be in place by the end of 2014
A Nite Café This service will be established to provide a contact point for homeless people who do not want to be placed in emergency accommodation. It will provide food, rest area and showers. This will facilitate up to 50 people and will operate throughout the night, 7 days a week. Initial commencement from 15th December –full service will commence from January 2015.
Transport with Housing First Provided with immediate effect
Service (On Street Service) It will transport persons to emergency accommodation if required. NOTE: Housing First Service - focusing on outreach functions, as well as intake for Housing First tenancies. The team have responsibility for engagement and responding to the accommodation and support needs of people sleeping rough in the Dublin region. They will also be the first point of contact for entry and assessment for those interested in referring to Housing First.
Homeless Helpline Operation of service is being reviewed by December 10th  2014 Greater efficiency will be provided through delivery of additional beds.
Extend the Tenancy Protection Public Awareness Campaign The Tenancy Protection service provided by Threshold on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities is having a significant impact in the Dublin region supporting tenants in the private rented sector to sustain their home (313 tenancies have been protected since June 16th  2014 initiation of prevention campaign) The support service currently operated by Threshold in Dublin will be provided with additional staff this week.
50% of all Housing Allocations Allocation of 50% of all housing allocations to homeless households and other vulnerable groups for the next six months. Having regard to the time spent by these households on the homeless and other housing lists as at 1st December 2014.
NAMA A hotel under the control of NAMA will be purchased to provide accommodation and a single assessment centre for homeless families. Expected to be operational by the end of April 2015.
Vacant Properties A total of 1,046 vacant properties to be brought back into productive use in the Dublin City Council area. 655 of these will come into place over the next 4-6 months, with the remainder being developed in phases, up to 2018.
Properties Scheduled for Demolition Dublin City Council is re-examining its 657 vacant properties which are currently scheduled for demolition with a view to refurbishing some of them on a temporary basis.

In addition to the above which will assist the homeless throughout the entire region this Council has commenced prioritising the housing of homeless persons in all forms of social housing. To date 114 homeless applicants have been housed. This Council has provided  and additional €900,000 in the Budget under this heading bringing the net cost of this service to €1,509,300 which represents an increase of 150%.  Similar funding is available next year. South Dublin County Council is also actively pursuing the leasing of a property to be used exclusively by homeless families on a temporary basis while awaiting permanent accommodation. It is proposed that this accommodation will be managed by one of the Voluntary Housing Assocations with the expertise in this area.

As 80% of the homeless list is single adults, predominantly male, it is proposed to further engage with the Voluntary Housing Associations to provide multi - tenancy units. This initiative which has already commenced, whereby two, three or four homeless persons will be housed in a managed 3 bed unit. It is anticipated that this initiative along with the above proposals will have positive impacts on the Homeless List in 2015.