Dublin City Council will take lead role in providing client-driven services and independent housing instead of emergency accommodation.

The Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD announced the new direction for the delivery of services for people experiencing homelessness. The Minister's new approach will see 'the money follow the client', where the provision of funding will be linked directly to specific targets and outcomes. This will allow service providers to focus on the delivery of independent accommodation for homeless people and families, resulting in a move away from the heavy dependence on emergency accommodation in hostels and private B&Bs.

The Programme for Government committed to reviewing and updating the current homeless strategy and to adopting a 'housing led' approach to homelessness. The new pro-active approach announced by Minister Hogan will see Dublin City Council take greater operational responsibility for the homeless in the greater Dublin area. A specialist unit will be primarily responsible for the implementation of the Dublin Region Homeless Action Plan which will now be target driven, outputs will be directly linked to the provision of funding. Its priority will be to assist and support the homeless according to their individual needs, and to help them access independent accommodation.

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The Dublin City Council, as lead authority for the Dublin region, will produce a detailed operational plan with agreed targets and outcomes before the end of the year which will quantify the number of accommodation units required and the suite of options on how these units can be delivered.

Minister Hogan said: "This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society. The outcome of the 'rough sleeper count' indicated that there were still 87 people sleeping rough on our streets on the 9th of November clearly demonstrates that the current strategy of dealing with the problem of homelessness is failing us and is not delivering the necessary results."

"The focus to date has been on providing emergency accommodation in hostels and B&Bs and this approach doesn’t address the long-term problem."

The new approach is being piloted in the Dublin region first where homeless numbers are most acute. The approach outlined will be closely monitored and reviewed with a view to roll out across the country.

(CD)