Sir, – As one of the researchers that Alice Leahy (September 10th) dismisses, I am astonished to read her assertion that we claimed there was no need for emergency services and that homelessness would end by 2010.
In 20 years of involvement with homelessness in Ireland, I have never met anyone who has made such claims; indeed they would be absurd.
What we did say was that emergency accommodation was not being used as effectively as it could be. Homeless people were staying in emergency accommodation for too long because of a shortage of long-term housing, and so the system was log-jammed.
In relation to our supposed claim that homelessness would end by 2010, this too is false. The Homeless Agency’s target was that long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough would be ended by 2010, which is quite different from saying that all homelessness would end by 2010.
The causes of homelessness are many and complex, but most of the solutions are very simple. About 75 per cent of homeless people need normal mainstream housing with appropriate visiting support (the support is not an optional add-on; it is essential, and without it, some people will return to homelessness); and about 25 per cent of people need specialised housing with on-site support that can meet their greater needs.
The Homeless Agency’s goal was not achieved by the deadline, which in the current economic situation is, unfortunately, hardly surprising.
In addition, the recession has brought new problems. But very significant progress has been made, and it is vital not to lose sight of this target, which continues to be both realistic and achievable. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – I cannot for the life of me understand why Focus and Trust are obliged to write letters to the newspapers deploring the incidence of homelessness among our population. The fact of the matter is that this country is bursting at the seams with empty, habitable property. For anyone to be homeless who does not choose to be shows an appalling lack of guts on the part of political activists and to some degree on the homeless themselves.
The citizens of this country rightly have a reputation for resistance to oppression of every kind over generations. Where is that spirit of resistance now when it is so badly needed?
Do I have to spell out what needs to be done for those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves without a roof while hundreds, if not thousands, of roofs cover empty properties all over the country? – Is mise,