Government policy on homelessness needs to shift from emergency provison to offering long-term housing, according to a report from the Simon Community of Ireland today.
The report, Settlement First, cofunded by the Simon Community and the Combat Poverty Agency, comes 17 years after the introduction of the Housing Act 1988 and assesses the extent to which the Republic's laws have helped the homeless access long-term stable housing.
Conor Hickey, federation director of Simon
The national study contains recommendations for the relevant Government departments, local authorities and voluntary organisations based on its analysis of homelessness in the nine local authority areas where over 87 per cent of the homeless population reside.
In 2002, the Government pledged to deliver on housing rights through increased access to quality services.
This commitment, made in the National Anti Poverty Strategy, included the move towards a more explicit statement of entitlement for the homeless.
According to Simon, the findings from this report indicate a substantial shift in policy and practice will be necessary to deliver this commitment for the homeless.
The report also highlights that the proportion of allocations to single homeless people is lower than their actual percentage on the homeless housing list.
Single people account for 68 per cent of the current homeless list, but only 43 per cent of the allocations. Of those officially counted as homeless in 2002, only 10 per cent were housed by the local authorities.
The report also says settlement services are substantially more cost effective than emergency provision. The approximate cost of keeping someone in emergency accommodation per year is €30,000, whereas independent private sector accommodation costs only €12,000.
"Simon believes that housing rights should be made real through a client centred, transparent and accessible housing system. One implication of this research is that we may need new law before our clients can realise their rights to appropriate (long-term) housing. Homelessness can be ended with a commitment to providing people with appropriate housing," said Mr Conor Hickey, federation director of Simon.