COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 09, 2017

QUESTION NO.8

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

To ask the Chief Executive for an update on the figures for the homeless and housing lists, and to make a statement on the matter.

REPLY:

At 22/12/16 there are 7,786 on housing list. This represents an increase from the November figure of 7,301 and is due to staff resources being applied to process crossover applications. It is anticipated the number of crossover applications will reduce in mid-2017 when HAP is rolled out across the Dublin Region. In 2016 the Council completed the statutory social housing assessment to update applicants circumstances.

There are currently 440 applicants on the Homeless Priority List.

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 (Homeless Action Team) 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.

In addition the Council operates an outreach service and multi-agency approach to address rough sleepers.

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 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