Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
397. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of care-experienced young adults currently accessing emergency accommodation, supported temporary accommodation or Housing First-type supports, broken down by local authority area where available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41129/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy 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 a local level.
Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities. 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 homeless 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.
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. This report also provides a breakdown of the number of adults in emergency accommodation per accommodation type. The most recently published data is in respect of March 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/.
My Department also publishes quarterly progress reports which summarise the data in quarterly regional performance reports submitted to the Department by the nine regional lead authorities responsible for the administration of homeless services at local level. These quarterly performance reports include details of the numbers of individuals prevented from entering emergency accommodation, and those exiting emergency accommodation into tenancies, the reason for presentation and the duration of stay in emergency accommodation.
A category for ‘Leaving an Institution – Care/Hospital/Prison/Refuge’ as a household reason for presenting and entering emergency accommodation was added to the local authority quarterly performance returns in Q3 2024.
Progress and Performance Reports 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/.
A national Youth Homelessness Strategy was developed for the period 2023 - 2025, and aimed to help young people aged 18-24 who were experiencing or were at risk of experiencing homelessness. The Strategy recognised that there are certain cohorts of young people who are at heightened risk of homelessness or disproportionately represented in the young homeless population.
The Supported Housing for Youth (SHY) pilot commenced in the Dublin region in 2024 with the aim of addressing the specific needs of young people aged 18–24 who are experiencing homelessness. Participants receive tailored supports to sustain their tenancy and access education, training, or employment. The programme is time-limited, with the goal of enabling independent living in long-term accommodation. To date, 23 young people have exited emergency accommodation and moved into SHY accommodation with wraparound supports.
In addition, Cork City Council is developing a Shared Accommodation Scheme pilot to provide transitional shared housing for young people in Cork City. This will deliver 38 single-storey modular units. It is intended that this project will provide accommodation for up to 72 young people in the 36 units with, onsite supports available via two community support units. This project will support young people to leave or avoid entering emergency accommodation. The units have been built and are now on site. An operational group has been established to support the selection of participants in this pilot. It is intended that the units will be occupied in the coming months.
