Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 April 2026
124. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the body or bodies responsible for compiling and publishing the monthly homelessness figures; the methodology and data sources used in their preparation, including the role of local authorities and the Pathway Accommodation and Support System; the definition of homelessness applied in these reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28850/26]
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.
Under the Housing Act 1988 it is a matter for each local authority to determine whether a person is regarded as homeless; section 2 of the Act sets out the requirements in this regard. When a household has been assessed as homeless, section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 provides that a local authority may provide accommodation and related services to that household. Decisions on the assessment of households for homeless services, the most appropriate form of such support, and the allocation of that support are a matter for the local authority concerned.
My Department currently gathers and publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by local authorities. These reports are based on data provided by local authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS), the single integrated national data information system on State-funded homeless emergency accommodation arrangements overseen by local authorities. PASS is an active case and bed management and client support system and is administrated by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE).
The monthly homelessness report includes details of individuals, families and the dependants of these families who accessed emergency accommodation during the relevant count week of the month in question. The most recently published data is in respect of February 2026. The reports are collated on a regional basis and are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/homelessness-data/ and are also published to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation's open data portal https://data.gov.ie/.
