Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 7 September 2026
1892. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total Exchequer funding drawn down by each individual local authority for homeless services in 2025 and to date in 2026; the specific breakdown of these funds spent on emergency accommodation versus preventative measures; and the total portion of this funding paid directly to private providers and commercial hotel operators. [62757/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department does not fund any homeless service directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards the operational costs of homeless accommodation and related services under Section 10 of the Housing Act, 1988. While responsibility for the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities, the administration of homeless services is organised on a regional basis, with nine administrative regions and a lead authority in each region.
Under Exchequer funding arrangements, housing authorities must provide at least 10% of the cost of services from their own resources. Furthermore, housing authorities may also incur additional expenditure on homeless related services outside of the Exchequer funding arrangements provided by my Department. Therefore, the exact amounts spent by housing authorities on homeless services, as well as the type and operation of homeless services are a matter for individual housing authorities in consultation with the Management Group of the relevant regional joint Homelessness Consultative Forum.
The table below sets out the Exchequer funding provided under Section 10 of the Housing Act, 1988 on a regional basis for 2025 and for January - end August 2026.
|
Exchequer funding provided under Section 10 of the Housing Act, 1988 |
|
|
|
Region |
2025 |
Jan - August 2026 |
|
Dublin |
318,905,870 |
156,762,012 |
|
Mid-East |
16,840,548 |
4,733,442 |
|
Midlands |
7,901,940 |
1,999,876 |
|
Mid-West |
19,908,438 |
13,066,944 |
|
North-East |
7,895,555 |
3,358,644 |
|
North-West |
3,905,472 |
2,549,890 |
|
South-East |
11,605,166 |
8,553,774 |
|
South-West |
43,412,017 |
10,045,002 |
|
West |
18,402,333 |
9,024,188 |
|
Total |
€448,777,339 |
€210,093,772 |
Financial reports from each of the regional fora, setting out total expenditure on homeless services including on prevention, and emergency accommodation which is provided through the non-government sector and private operators are published on my department’s website at the following link: www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.
The expenditure incurred by local authorities reflects the utilisation of Exchequer funding in support of the delivery of homeless services. An analysis of these financial reports for 2025 shows that expenditure by housing authorities on emergency accommodation in 2025 accounted for 90% of the overall expenditure, of which approximately 68% was provided by commercial and contracted commercial private emergency accommodation. It is necessary to use private emergency accommodation facilities to ensure that local authorities have sufficient capacity to provide accommodation to all households that need it. The cost of emergency accommodation varies across the non-government and commercial service providers, depending on size, type of services and supports available, location, and whether there is rent cost on the facility used. Housing authority expenditure in 2025 on preventative measures was some 6% of total expenditure, noting this was a €4m increase over the expenditure incurred in 2024 on prevention measures.
