18 May 2005

Environment

Improving Housing Info

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will consider improvement of the quality and timeliness of his Department's information on the extent and nature of housing need, including homelessness (details supplied).

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government:

The most recent assessment of need for local authority housing took place at end March 2005. Local authorities have been asked to forward completed returns to my Department by 27 May and my Department will then collate these returns to present an overall national position. The results of the last assessment were published in November 2002 and I expect that my Department will be in a position to publish the results of this year’s assessment by next September/ October.

The 2005 assessment of need is more rigorous than heretofore and requires local authorities to submit data in electronic format to the Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB) for input into a data warehouse. This will enable my Department to improve its analysis of aggregate data in respect of all households, including homeless households. It is also envisaged that a new IT system being developed for housing authorities will provide the Department with information on housing needs on a more regular basis in the future.

It is recognised that a comprehensive data system is essential to monitor progress in addressing homelessness. In response to this the Homeless Agency in conjunction with homeless service providers in Dublin, developed the LINK System, with funding provided by my Department. The purpose of the system is to improve and develop services and service delivery to homeless persons to ensure they receive a continuum of care based on an accurate and up to date assessment of their needs.

The LINK system is intended to help the local authorities to formulate appropriate responses to the accommodation needs of homeless households and individuals. It also facilitates the identification of their non-accommodation requirements and provide a basis for the formulation of responses to their case and support needs by the statutory and voluntary agencies involved.