Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien is set to seek Cabinet approval of a new homeless action committee amid “serious concerns” over the rising numbers of homeless people.

It is understood that the plan, which will see Mr O’Brien chair the commission, is being drawn up in light of an increase in homeless numbers, which had declined during the height of the Covid pandemic before rising to new.

Figures released last month show that there are 8,475 people who are homeless.

“Fortunately, this is a significant decrease from the 10,514 people who were homeless in October 2019, but it is still far too high,” said a spokesperson for Mr O’Brien. “The number of homeless people has increased in recent months and is a serious concern for the government. “

An increase of 263 homeless people was recorded in the most recent figures, with 1,005 homeless families – an increase from 953 the previous month. Another 6,131 adults were registered as homeless.

Mr. O’Brien will also brief Cabinet on broader trends in homelessness, including meeting targets set in the state’s housing for all action plan.

He will also bring a note on the establishment of a Housing Commission, which is likely to examine the wording of a possible referendum on housing, among other issues. The 12-member commission will be chaired by former Housing Agency chairman John O’Connor and will be established before Christmas. The intention is to form a series of sub-committees to deal with issues and seek expert advice, as well as to review long-term housing policy.

The full terms of reference will be published after the commission is established if approved by Cabinet.

Fishing quotas

Separately, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State Pippa Hackett will seek Cabinet approval for a € 66million decommissioning program to reduce the size of the whitefish fleet after Brexit takes hold. reduced Irish fishing quotas. The program was set in Cabinet on Tuesday, although it could still be pushed back a week.

The cost of the program is equivalent to about 60 fishing trawlers or a quarter of the whitefish fleet. It will be 100% funded by the Irish allocation from the Brexit reserve fund – some details remain to be worked out with the revenue commissioners and state aid clearance with the European Commission.

The Agriculture Ministry will also present a joint note with Climate Minister Eamon Ryan and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath to establish a new joint venture between ESB and Coillte that will seek to develop € 1.5 billion in energy. onshore wind turbine before the end of the decade.

The merger between the companies, which received approval from the competition watchdog in February, will be funded by loans from the semi-states rather than the Treasury.

It will see the creation of a new company called FuturEnergy Ireland that will aim to deliver 1 gigawatt of renewable energy – mostly onshore wind farms – by 2030. The program will be called Project Pearl.

The output from the wind farm projects will be enough to power around half a million homes, the companies said previously.

Between 20 and 30 of those projects could be developed under the deal, some of which would be on land controlled by Coillte.