COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
 

COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 21, 2015

QUESTION NO.24

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to furnish a full report on actions taken and planned in respect of the current Homeless crisis as it effects our County; will he give details of where in the various Electoral areas these families are from and will he also detail how many Homeless families from our County are currently accommodated outside of the County and what plans he has to deal with that particular problem.

REPLY:

Homeless Services for Dublin are delivered on a regional basis and are funded through DECLG, HSE and the four Local Authorities.

South Dublin County Council’s 2015 Annual Service Plan for Housing Services will provide for

South Dublin County Council operate 2 daily drop-in clinics for those homeless or at risk of homelessness from 10am to 12noon and 2pm to 4pm Monday to Friday and offers the following services:

  1. Advice/Assessment/Prevention options
  2. Bed Placement
  3. Completion of Housing Needs Assessment
  4. Sign up for Social Housing
  5. Sli Service - which aids the establishment and maintenance of a tenancy once signed for over a period of time in accordance of need
  6. Provides an outreach service including prison visits
  7. Weekly clinic in CARP

The Council has a supported temporary accommodation facility in the Tallaght area for people sleeping rough in South Dublin. It caters for 21 individuals at any one time. In an effort to increase the number of beds available for those sleeping rough the Council has recently made 4 x 2 bed apartments available as move on for those in the facility who are considered capable of independent living. It is envisaged that these units will cater for 8 persons to move on and live independently with supports

The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive has introduced a new on-street service, which combines street outreach and Housing First has been in place since October 1st 2014. The service provides two teams:

Intake Team - If a person is sleeping rough and needs accommodation and support or if they are interested in referring to Housing First

Intensive Case Management (ICM) Team – If a person is already a Housing First tenant

Housing First focuses on providing long-term tenancies for those who have been long-term rough sleeping with the provision of time unlimited wrap around support services to assist them in maintaining their tenancy. This service has been contacted and is now working with the rough sleepers in the County.  In addition discussions are ongoing with Focus Ireland who provide a drop in and advice centre in Tallaght to extend their service to provide additional hot drinks and sandwiches.

In response to the current homeless crisis, two furhter initiatives were introduced

1. The Minister for the Enviornment Community and Local Goverenment issued a Directive on the 27th January 2015 whereby:

"at least 50% of the dwellings available for allocation under Section 22 of the 2009 Act during the specified period will be allocated to households that are qualified for social housing support (i.e. those who are on the record of qualified households) and that, on or before 1 December 2014, have been deemed by the authority to have one or more than one of the following needs:

(i) was in an institution, emergency accommodation or a hostel (i.e. a homeless household within the meaning of Section 2 of the Housing Act 1988);

(ii) has an accommodation requirement arising from an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment (i.e. households where one of its members has a disability and as such is deemed to be a vulnerable household); and

(iii) was in accommodation that was unsuitable for the household's adequate housing on exceptional medical or compassionate grounds (i.e. including households the subject of domestic violence and young people leaving State care and as such deemed to be a vulnerable household)."

Accordingly all allocations at this time are made firstly in accordance with the ministers directive and thereafter in accordance with the Councils Allocation Scheme.  Since the introduction of this scheme, there have been 16 properties allocated to homeless persons/families, 8 pending allocation and a further 14 nominations to AHB.

2. HAP Homeless Scheme

Under the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government’s (DECLG) Action Plan to Address Homelessness announced in December 2014, it was agreed that the HAP scheme would be extended as a pilot specifically aimed at homeless households in the Dublin region.  This scheme permits a greater level of rent for appropriate properties

A dedicated Homeless HAP Unit has been established in the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) offices to assist with the implementation and roll out of the pilot across homeless services which commenced operations on the 18th February 2015.

Under HAP, households are required to find their own accommodation in the private rented sector. However for homeless households who have higher support needs, STA and TEA Key Workers / Homeless Action Teams will be required to assist their client household in sourcing appropriate private rented accommodation.

In addition South Dublin County Council in conjunction with Tuath Housing have opened Tallaght Cross which offers temporary accommodation for 65 homeless families, who would otherwise be in Hotel & B&B accommodation throughout the city.

Families registered with South Dublin are comprised of people from both North & South of the Naas Road.  At present there is one family in emergency accommodation outside of the Dublin Area.