Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2026
96. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he will take this winter to reverse rising homelessness; when the promised and delayed child and family homelessness action plan will be published; and the emergency measures he will take this winter to accelerate exits from emergency accommodation. [68816/26]
View answerSince the Minister came to office in January 2025, we have had a 17% overall increase in homelessness, including a 26.66% increase in the number of children homeless. I will ask the Minister specifically about the measures he will take this winter to reverse rising homelessness. When will the promised and repeatedly delayed child and family homelessness action plan be published? What are the accelerated emergency measures he will take to increase and accelerate exits from emergency accommodation this winter?
I thank the Deputy for raising the very important issue of homelessness, which has to be the most important issue any of us deal with.
Addressing family homelessness is a key priority for Government. Our housing plan commits to the development of a child and family homelessness action plan. This has brought together key stakeholders to drive the continued focus on preventing children and families entering emergency accommodation and providing enhanced supports for children experiencing homelessness, as well as measures to accelerate exits and reduce the time spent by children and their families in homeless emergency accommodation. The plan will provide a strengthened focus on the particular needs of children and families and bring together actions across Government to improve outcomes for families experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. This plan is at an advanced stage of drafting and is intended to be published shortly. Following publication, a delivery steering group will be established under the auspices of the National Homeless Action Committee, NHAC, to drive progress on all actions and maintain a strong cross-Government focus on implementation.
More broadly, our focus is on ensuring homelessness is prevented where possible and, where families do enter emergency accommodation, that they are supported to move to a secure and sustainable home as quickly as possible. Local authorities will continue to work with households to identify appropriate pathways out of emergency accommodation, including through social housing, HAP and Homeless HAP. Significant resources are being provided to support this response. Budget 2026 provided a total allocation of €563.5 million to address homelessness. This included €513.5 million in current funding to ensure local authorities can provide sufficient emergency accommodation.
There is nothing in the briefing the Minister's Department gave him and which he read out - it is essentially the same as the one read out to my colleagues who asked similar questions earlier - that addresses the crux of my question because the child and family homelessness plan has been delayed repeatedly. It was supposed to come in quarter 2, then in June and then in September. The budget is next week. When exactly will the plan be published? Is there going to be ringfenced, dedicated funding in the budget specifically to reduce the duration people, and families in particular, are spending in emergency accommodation?
Threshold made a very good pre-budget submission. Some €84 million is the figure it put forward. I would like to know the Minister's thoughts on that. I want to hear from him specifically on how we are going to get more people out of emergency accommodation this winter.
It is important we not just have a plan - in this case the child and family homelessness action plan - but that it is funded and we can ensure it is delivered quickly so that we prevent as many children as possible from becoming homeless or exit them as quickly as possible. We are providing a record number of exits from homelessness but it is challenging because of the number we have coming into homelessness in the first place. All of this is driven by the lack and shortage of housing in this country. Everything I do is to prevent people from becoming homeless, to exit them as quickly as possible and ensure that while they are in homelessness, the best supports are provided to them. It is traumatic for children to be in homelessness, and we do not want a single child spending a single day in it. That is why we have a number of measures and are providing record funding to tackle the homelessness situation but, ultimately, we have to drive supply in this country otherwise we are not going to end any of the challenges we face within homelessness.
The issue I have is that we are functionally out of capacity. We are running out of emergency accommodation coming into this winter and there is a real concern that the incoming demand will exhaust all the remaining beds. There is nothing in what the Minister said, albeit his acknowledgement that the plan does need to be funded but it needs to be funded properly and it is going to need a significant envelope. Something around 20% of all section 10 funding needs to go into a homelessness prevention framework. The staggering amount of money we are spending on emergency accommodation is an indictment of how Government has failed.
Everything that has been floated in the budget has related to essentially putting up house prices for first-time buyers. When exactly will the plan be published and will the funding envelope allocated to the plan be adequate enough to stop more children and families ending up in homelessness this winter?
We will be publishing that plan very soon. We want to ensure it is funded and can be delivered, that it is not simply a plan to sit on the shelf because we are acutely aware of the increase in homelessness but, in particular, the number of children who are going into homelessness. Where this happens, we want to exit them as quickly as possible into permanent, safe and secure homes. That is why last year we delivered record numbers of social housing and I have no doubt we will deliver even more this year.
I am conscious that while people, particularly children, are in emergency accommodation, the best supports that can be provided are provided to them. As I said, it is about getting them out there as quickly as possible because it is traumatic for any child to spend even a single day in homelessness.
