Minister Kelly to host forum on homelessness in Dublin

Issued : Tuesday 2 December, 2014

Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government, Alan Kelly, will convene a special forum on Homelessness on Thursday.

The Minister said: “I want to meet with elected mayors, CEOs of the local authorities and representatives of the voluntary organisations to address the serious challenges posed by homelessness in the Dublin region. I want to focus attention and activity on this issue which is very important at any time but is particularly sensitive at this time of year.”

The forum will include the CEOs of the four Dublin local authorities, the Lord Mayor of Dublin City, Cathaoirligh of South Dublin, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown and Fingal as well as the non-governmental organisations working in the sector.

The Minister is also inviting the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin to meet with him on Thursday.

Minister Kelly said: ‘The forum is designed to see what further collective actions can be taken by Government, the local authorities and the voluntary sector.  The issue of homelessness is complex and is about much more than just funding and money.  As a state we are spending over €1 billion on various housing supports and builds and are increasing the budget to deal with homeless services.”