Pilot project to support the family functioning of homeless families in emergency accommodation

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the status of the pilot project that will be introduced to support the family functioning of homeless families in emergency accommodation by providing off-site or near-site family time including play, homework, cooking and washing facilities, family support and parent support.

REPLY

Supporting families experiencing homelessness is a key priority of Government.    Rebuilding Ireland, the Government's Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness, includes the objective that hotels will only be used in limited circumstances as emergency accommodation for families.  Rebuilding Ireland also sought to ensure that families experiencing homelessness are provided with appropriate emergency accommodation and supports until such time as a home can be secured.  To meet this objective, housing authorities are pursuing the delivery of a range of additional and enhanced family-focused facilities, or family hubs.   

Family hubs offer family living arrangements with a greater level of stability than is possible in hotel accommodation, with the capacity to provide appropriate play-space, cooking and laundry facilities and communal recreation space. This setting also allows for more intensive supports to be provided to families where needed while move-on options to long-term tenancies are identified and secured.  

There are currently 30 hubs operational nationally, offering almost 690 units of family accommodation in urban areas.  There are 23 family hubs in Dublin, two in Kildare and one each in Clare, Cork, Limerick, Louth and Galway.  Further facilities will become operational through the end of 2019 and on an ongoing basis into 2020, details of which will become available as projects are finalised by housing authorities.