There has been no adequate census carried out on the number of homeless nationwide, but the recent report Counted In: The Report of the 1999 assessment of homelessness in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow prepared by the ESRI for the Homeless Initiative identified 2,900 homeless people in the former EHB region during a one-week period in March 1999. Of those 2,760 were found in the Dublin Corporation area. There were 540 families with 990 children identified during this study period, and 340 young people aged less than 20.
Focus Ireland estimates that approximately 10,000 people used its services during 1998 and 1999; figures for 2000 are unavailable.
There are 900 emergency beds in the Dublin area, the majority of hostels located in the city centre area of Dublin 7. Approximately 100 beds are available for women. There are no family hostels in Dublin; two-parent families with children are accommodated in B&Bs, as are single men with children.
Research has shown that the main reasons for homelessness are a combination of structural - e.g. inadequate supply of social housing, poverty, unemployment, etc - and personal factors such as family conflict, relationship breakdown, substance misuse, domestic violence, etc.
According to Brendan Kenny, principal officer of the Housing and Community Services, the total number of homeless people on the waiting list for Dublin Corporation housing is 1,900 (the homeless category includes those sleeping rough and those in overcrowded home situations). The average waiting time for a single person to be housed could be up to two years: "We have 25,000 units in the city, but most are two and three bedroom houses and flats designed for families." A family, if accepted as being in "an urgent situation" and if prepared to move into any area of the city, could be accommodated right away, he adds: "A lot depends on the area requested. We have high, medium and low demand areas." Drug dealers will not be housed, and the allocation process involves consultation with residents' committees.
The Simon Shelter on Usher's Island can take up to 30 people - male and female - and the maximum length of stay is six months. There is an emergency service for up to nine people who are in need of a bed for one night only. The cost is £9.50, usually paid for by the Homeless Person's Unit of the EHB on Charles Street. They can book in at 2 p.m. and are given a meal and washing facilities. Simon will look after blankets during the day and clean them if required. The Simon Settlement and Training Service (not restricted to residents) offers training in a range of work, including crafts and woodturning, and life skills education (such as cooking). Simon will also assist homeless people to apply for their entitlements and to get medical treatment.
Cedar House on Marlborough Place is owned and funded by Dublin Corporation, and run by the Salvation Army. Intended as an Emergency Night Shelter for men over 18, some of its clients have actually been living there for as long as two years. Thirty of the beds are in single rooms, some with en suite facilities, and long-stay residents who do not cause trouble with substance abuse or violence are housed in these rooms.
The other beds, most of which are in a dormitory, are for emergency cases. A queue begins at 5.30 p.m.: the hostel opens its doors at 6 p.m. Men in the queue must empty out their pockets and shoes before they are allowed in: no drink, drugs or weapons are allowed. Most nights, especially in the summer when other emergency services are closed, there are more people in the queue than Cedar House can accommodate. There are AA, NA and GA meetings there once a month. The cost is £3 a night.
The Northern Area Health Board provides an emergency accommodation placement service from its Homeless Unit in Charles Street, Dublin 1, which dealt with 5,000 people last year. It provides an income support service through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which helps to pay for overnight accommodation.
