The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Noel Ahern TD, launched the 2005 annual report of the Homeless Agency1 on 30 November 2006 at the agency’s headquarters in Parkgate Hall, Dublin.

The report contains information on progress made on the strategic aims of the 2004–2006 action plan of the Homeless Agency, Making it home.2 The ultimate aim is to eliminate long-term homelessness and end the need for people to ‘sleep rough’ by 2010. Examples of short-term progress outlined in the report include:

·       a decrease of 19% in the number of households reporting as homeless recorded in Counted in 2005 3

·       the allocation of local authority social housing to 183 homeless households, and housing association social housing to 89 homeless households (out of a total of 1,644 allocations of social housing in 2005)

·       the expansion of specialist healthcare services, including a pilot outreach service for people experiencing homelessness and alcohol issues in Ballymun

·       the development of the Dublin City Tenancy Sustainment Service as a measure to prevent homelessness

·       the completion of a large number of commissioned research and evaluation reports containing a range of recommendations that will be incorporated into the forthcoming Homeless Agency Partnership Action Plan 2007–2010.

Commenting on the activities of 2005 in the report, the outgoing director, Dr Derval Howley, noted that it was a year that presented a mix of successes and challenges. Mr Cathal Morgan has taken over as the new director of the Homeless Agency.  I wish him every success in his new position. (

1.    Homeless Agency (2006) Annual report 2005: making it home. Dublin: Homeless Agency.

2.    Homeless Agency (2004) Making it home: An action plan on homelessness in Dublin 2004–2006. Dublin: Homeless Agency.

3.    Homeless Agency (2005) Counted in 2005. Dublin: Homeless Agency.