Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 July 2025
531. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to report on the collaborative work he plans to undertake with his colleague, the Minister for Health, on issues around health and homelessness and what shared resources will be brought forward in budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37695/25]
View answerMy Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of local authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities.
In line with government policy, my Department, the Department of Health, the HSE together with local authorities, have a joint responsibility and commitment to provide a preventative, person-centred and coordinated response to delivering homeless services which involves the provision of suitable housing together with a set of appropriate health and social supports that assist the service user in maintaining a tenancy together with ensuring optimal physical and mental health. The importance of the HSE role in the provision of homeless services is reflected in their statutory role in the joint homelessness consultative forums and the regional statutory management groups, as outlined in section 38 and 39 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009.
The Department of Health has a number of existing actions in Housing for All, Ireland’s Housing Plan to 2030, and the HSE is a key member of the Steering Group of the Youth Homelessness Strategy.
In addition, Housing for All committed to the further expansion of Housing First. The implementation of the Plan is a joint initiative of my Department, the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive (HSE), the criminal justice sector (the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service) and Local Authorities, in conjunction with NGO partners.
Suitable housing conditions are a key social determinant of health. Collaborative delivery of housing and health supports under Housing First are designed to ensure that no person is excluded from either housing or health support. Health supports, provided by the HSE and Department of Health, are an integral component of settlement and a person’s return to independent living and these principles inform Housing First. The Programme for Government, Securing Ireland’s Future, commits to creating 2,000 Housing First tenancies to help eliminate long term homelessness.
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to ensure a holistic, cross departmental approach to homelessness prevention. My Department will shortly be contacting relevant Departments, including the Department of Health to participate in the development of a homelessness prevention framework to meet this commitment.
To support the coordination of the response to homeless issues by Government, the National Homeless Action Committee (NHAC), which I chair, was established in 2021. The primary objective of the Committee is to bring together key Government Departments, including the Department of Health, agencies and stakeholders, to oversee implementation of the homeless inter-agency measures committed to under Housing for All and to ensure for coherence and co-ordination of homeless related services in delivering policy measures and actions. Further information on the work of this Committee is available on my Department’s website here: www.gov.ie/en/publication/aad47-national-homeless-action-committee/.
