COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, July 11, 2022
QUESTION NO. 22
QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons
To ask the Chief Executive for a full report into homelessness in SDCC and how many males, females and children are deemed homeless ?
REPLY:
At the end of May 2022 494 households, comprising a total of 612 adults and 427 children, were registered as homeless with this Council. The household breakdown was as follows:
| Housheold Composition | No. |
| Single Males | 247 |
| Single Females | 62 |
| Couples | 22 |
| Families | 163 |
| Total | 494 |
There are three family hubs are in operation in South Dublin County at present as follows:
- High Street Family Hub (Abberley): a privately managed facility with 58 rooms (including 9 large family rooms) which is currently fully occupied with 54 households
- Firhouse Family Hub: managed by Respond Housing with 20 rooms and currently fully occupied by 20 households.
- Springfield Family Hub: also managed by Respond Housing and which is also fully occupied accommodating 12 households in twelve family rooms.
The number of families accommodated in the High Street and Firhouse family hubs depends on the household sizes as some larger households can require more than one room and numbers in hubs also fluctuate regularly as families move onto HAP-supported properties or social housing tenancies.
Family hubs are not intended as a long-term accommodation solutions but they are an important response for households that become homeless and have no alternative other than self-accommodation in hotels and B&Bs. Hubs provide short-term but more stable and appropriate accommodation that includes play space, cooking & laundry facilities and communal recreation space. This relative stability allows families to pursue longer term private rented accommodation through HAP support, with the assistance of on-site key workers, or social housing tenancies.
As families progress from family hubs to HAP or social housing, places in the hubs are then offered to other homeless families and there are currently approximately 170 families registered as homeless with the Council of which 44 are awaiting family hub accommodation.
For the period January to May 2022, 26 homeless households were allocated permanent social housing tenancies with the Council or an AHB in addition to households who exited emergency accommodation with the support of Homeless HAP tenancies.
Increasing housing supply is critical to meeting current housing need, including for homeless households, and the Council's Housing Delivery Action Plan 2022-2026, which will be published shortly following its approval by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, outlines our approach to meeting the social housing delivery targets set for the Council under the national housing plan, Housing for All.
Our Homeless Unit continues to provide assistance to those who find themselves homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Working in conjunction with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, this unit operates an advice clinic in County Hall and provides outreach and place-finding services across the County as well as detailing emergency accommodation options including central placement, self-accommodate, family hubs and other supported accommodation. Staff in the homeless unit will organise emergency accommodation for those assessed as homeless through the Assessment and Placement Service.