OPINIONAs Focus Ireland marks its 23rd anniversary, there are now more homeless people than in the 1980s - the onus is on the Government to tackle this problem, writes Sr Stanislaus Kennedy
"It is shocking to see the level of shortfall in delivery of social housing during the boom years
THERE ARE many different reasons people become homeless including: poverty; poor housing; family breakdown; a childhood in State care, addiction to drugs/alcohol and mental health problems. These are the recurring issues that crop up in the personal histories of the people with whom Focus Ireland has worked.
These problems must be tackled through targeted services, including aftercare, access to education, community mental health services and drug-treatment facilities to effectively prevent and combat homelessness.
Focus Ireland has a long history of working to support people to overcome these issues and provides ongoing support as required. Since 2005 alone, we have supported nearly 700 households to secure a home under our five-year strategy to tackle and prevent homelessness and last year, we supported 6,000 people through our services.
However, this work is being seriously undermined unless people have a place they can call home. People remain homeless due to the lack of suitable housing. Homelessness and a lack of housing are two sides of the same coin.
To move forward, I believe it is important to reflect on the past. This is particularly timely as it is 23 years ago this week that Focus Ireland began working with people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. I regret to say that the problem is worse now than it was then.
In 1985, it was estimated that up to 1,000 people were homeless. There are now up to 5,000 people who are homeless at any one time. This figure is not static as people enter and leave homelessness all the time, but it is worrying that the Counted In report found up to 1,800 become homeless in Dublin each year.
In 1984, it was found that 37 women and 93 children were homeless in Dublin. The most recent official figures available show that 463 dependent children who are part of 1,361 households are homeless in Dublin. These figures are an indictment of how successive governments have failed to tackle homelessness and housing need.
It is shocking to see the level of shortfall in delivery of social housing during the boom years. This is largely a direct result of a conscious decision by successive governments to, in effect, cut back on provision of social housing while the level of need was rising year on year.
In the 1970s and 1980s, social housing as a percentage of total housing output in the country ranged from 20 - 33 per cent. There was a shift in 1987 when it dropped to 16 per cent and in subsequent years it dropped as low as 4 per cent.
This shift of State policy continued during the 1990s as general housing output rose significantly but social housing output did not follow suit. In 1993, social housing was 9.8 per cent of total housing output, in 1999 it was 7.5 per cent and in 2004 it fell as low as 6.6 per cent. These figures support the view that year on year, the State was turning away from its commitment to provide social housing for people in need.
I believe that this was a conscious decision by the State to transfer the responsibility for meeting social needs, namely housing, to the private sector and massively subsidising them in this role. This strategy has now backfired spectacularly.
It is already becoming apparent that the demand for services from charities such as Focus Ireland is increasing as people feel the impact of the economic downturn. In such a climate, it would be disastrous if the Government were to cut existing levels of funding.
It is incumbent on the Government, when considering its budgetary options, to ensure that those who have benefited the least during the boom years are not made pay the price during any downturn. Any continuing failure to deliver on social housing targets makes a mockery of the Government's commitment to meet its own target to end long-term homelessness by 2010.
Official figures show over 43,000 households on local authority housing waiting lists today compared to 23,000 in 1991. When Focus Ireland was founded people were generally housed in under six months. Now families and single people can languish on the waiting lists for two years and more.
This housing shortfall must be addressed as a home is the very foundation stone of any attempt to create a more equal society.
Provision of social housing is central to addressing these needs. In addition to securing appropriate housing, some vulnerable families and single people require ongoing support to enable them to live independently in their own home and prevent them from becoming - or returning to - homelessness.
Focus Ireland believes action must be taken in the coming budget to address the shortage of social housing and to provide funding for supports for people moving out of homelessness. We are also calling for better protection for those in the private rented sector.
Our pre-budget submission outlines four actions that if taken, would provide vital homes, protect jobs and stimulate the economy:
Invest €4 billion to build and/or acquire 18,000 social and affordable units this year. (10,000 social, 6,000 affordable and 2,000 new rental accommodation units);
Establish a national framework for financing the increased housing output over the period of the National Partnership Agreement;
Create a direct revenue funding stream of at least €40 million for supported housing;
Adequately resource access, regulation and reform of the private rented sector.
The Government has a commitment to end long-term homelessness by 2010. If there is to be any chance of achieving this, the budget must contain significant investment in social and supported housing. If this investment in people is not made, it will lay the foundation for an even more unequal society.
This will result in more families and single people becoming homeless in the coming years with fewer routes out of the situation. Without these reforms, homelessness will continue to wreck the lives of thousands of people who are most in need in our society.
• Sr Stanislaus Kennedy is life president of Focus Ireland, which she founded in 1985