| 1st April 2003 | Environment | Homeless Persons |
| Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason there has been no drop in the homeless numbers in the past three years, with almost 3,000 adults and 1,200 children counted as homeless in Dublin in March 2002, with their current spell of homelessness typically exceeding one year. | ||
| Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Noel Ahern | ||
|
According
to "Counted In, 2002", the joint ESRI-Homeless Agency study on the
number of homeless people in Dublin, there were 2,920 homeless adults (2,560
households) in the Dublin area in March 2002 compared to 2,900 (2,690
households) in March 1999. This figure includes people in a range of homeless
accommodation, including bed and breakfast and hostel accommodation, as well as
people who reported that they were sleeping rough. The figures indicate the
number of homeless people at a point in time, but do not reflect the flows into
and out of homelessness. The ESRI-Homeless Agency study was carried out at a
time when there was pressure on the availability of housing and the Dublin
action plan was one year into its three-year cycle. While the results of the
study show an increase of 20 in adult homelessness, the overall decrease of 130
households presenting as homelessness shows that progress has been made in
tackling the problem. The implementation of the action plan by the Homeless
Agency has meant that significant progress has been made in tackling
homelessness. A range of new emergency, transitional and long-term accommodation
has been provided and settlement services have been developed to assist people
out of homelessness. |
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