Despite our prosperity, the number of people who are without a place to live is increasing. It is therefore time for a radical reform of social policy, writes Declan Jones
One look at the media headlines over the ast week highlights the paradox which Ireland has become. Our country is one of the wealthiest in the EU. Yet the 2005 Human Development Report, published by the UN Development Programme, shows that Ireland is still a most unequal society and has the third-highest level of poverty out of 18 industrialised countries surveyed.
The scandal of the three people found dead last weekend brings this faultline in society into sharp focus, and the tragedy visited on these individuals and their families prompts commentators to ask how this can happen.
Before attempting to respond, I would like, on behalf of all in Focus Ireland, to extend our condolences to the families and friends of those who died. As the circumstances of the deaths have not been made public, it is neither appropriate nor possible to comment further on them. However, what is clear is that each person was out of home and died at an early age.
In attempting to understand why we continue to witness a scale of homelessness at odds with our sense of ourselves as a wealthy, developed and charitable nation, we can respond by acknowledging the significant development of services for homeless people in recent years.
As a result, the number of people sleeping rough has dropped, as has the number of families and people under 18 presenting as homeless. However, this positive change has not embraced single adults, who remain the largest group, accounting for more than 3,000 of the homeless population. We are also finding that a core group of young people and families are remaining homeless.
The situation requires recognition of the complex needs of people who are without a home. Poverty, family breakdown, a history of a childhood in State care, addiction to drugs and/or alcohol, mental health difficulties and low levels of education pepper the personal histories of the people using services for the homeless.
If we are to address homelessness, then we must address these needs through targeted services, including aftercare, access to education, community mental health services and drug-treatment facilities.
In some instances, such as the availability of residential services for those under 18, improvements have been made. In other areas, such as access to child and adolescent psychiatric services, the situation remains chronic, and there is a significant unmet need.
In addition to providing targeted specialised supports, many people moving out of homelessness need assistance to settle in a new community and sustain a home. In the absence of such supports, experience shows that a cycle of homelessness, sometimes extending through generations, will result, and we will continue to witness untimely deaths among homeless people.
Providing targeted interventions to individuals with no home or at risk of homelessness will not in itself address the problem. The reality is that structural processes and personal factors combine to cause homelessness.
We must examine whether existing social and economic policy will combat and prevent future increases in the number of people without a home. In so doing, the paradoxes and inequality in our society re-emerge. Consider the following:
• The number of people sleeping rough is reducing, but the number of people without a home and without long-term accommodation has increased. The number of people on local authority housing waiting lists is illustrative. In 1991, 23,242 households were on local authority waiting lists. By 2002, this figure had risen to 48,413, and the numbers are expected to increase further.
• A report by the NESC estimates that we need to build 73,000 new social housing units by 2012. In 2004, only 5,146 such units were completed.
• The level of output from the private housing sector, bolstered by tax incentives, increased to an all-time high of 71,808 units in 2004, yet Government-funded initiatives to support access to the private rented sector by homeless people report a lack of suitable accommodation.
• It is proposed to insert new powers related to anti-social behaviour orders into the Children's Act, 2001, when provisions of the existing legislation, including those relating to family welfare conferences and special care provision, which could address the factors contributing to anti-social behaviour, remain under-resourced or unimplemented.
• There is a direct relationship between time spent in State institutions and homelessness. However, those in State care, including hospitals, care centres and prisons, are not included in the official assessment of homelessness.
Illustrative of these "hidden homeless" are the findings of a recent study, which shows that 25 per cent of prisoners out of a total of 241 surveyed were homeless on committal to prison, and 54 per cent had at least one experience of homelessness prior to imprisonment.
Focus Ireland welcomes the independent review of the Government's policy on homelessness which is currently in progress. We have made a submission to this and have actively ensured the involvement of people with direct experience of homelessness in it.
However, this is but one part of the action needed. While progress has been made in providing services to those without a home it is clear that unless there is a radical review of social policy the reality of homelessness will remain.
It is also clear that the problem of homelessness cannot be solved by voluntary agencies or statutory bodies alone. What is needed is a shift to an across-the-board approach by the Government to fully examine inequality in society. This would help to create a greater understanding of the issues and facilitate the development of effective policies to tackle them.
This needs to be underpinned by legislation which clearly sets out a statutory obligation to the homeless and incorporates a right to housing in Irish law. Such a right already exists in a number of EU countries. Without such reform, the extent of homelessness will be deepened, exacerbated and prolonged and we can expect homelessness to remain a permanent feature of our news headlines.
Declan Jones is chief executive of Focus Ireland