COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE
Monday, December 19, 2016
QUESTION NO. 10
QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor
"To ask the Chief Executive to present an updated report on his efforts to assist those who are homeless and sleeping rough in the Tallaght area and will he confirm if he has an accurate figure on those involved in that regard and if he is taking action to deal with the matter?"
REPLY:
"South Dublin County Council currently operates two facilities in the Tallaght Area. Tallaght Cross houses 64 families on a temporary basis and Killininney House offers accommodation for 21 single men and an additional 9 placements as step down/transitional in Glenn na Horna in Springfield managed by the Peter McVerry Trust. South Dublin County Council also has nomination rights to another hotel in the Tallaght Area for placement of South Dublin Families. All other Hotel & B&B accommodation is operated through the Central Placement Services and is not in the control of this local authority, and as a result the service can only offer the accommodation that is available on any given day.
All families included on the Homeless Register are notified to the Focus Family HAT who appoint a Case Worker to further assist those families.
SDCC is also working with Focus Ireland on the HAP Preventative Measure to assist and prevent those families at risk from becoming homelessness.
The Council also operates an outreach service and multi-agency approach to address rough sleepers.
The rough sleeper count took place on the 22nd of November, 2016 in which 7 people were identified rough sleeping. A number of those wished to be placed in emergency accommodation and with the co-operation of The Peter McVeery Trust places where found for those people into their service. The winter cold weather initiative has been launched by the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and an additional capacity of beds has been allocated to South Dublin County Council for both men and women service users.
Dublin City Council is the lead authority in terms of Homeless Services for the Dublin Region. Funding for Homeless accommodation and preventative measures comes from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government with a contribution from each of the Dublin authorities. Funding is also provided for a number of services from the Department of Health/HSE. There is a total provision of €2.6M from SDCC in 2016 and 2017 towards homeless service and provision. Any additional funding for added services is sought from the relevant Departments through Dublin City Council as lead agency."