Homeless crisis: 300 still live on street after five years

FIGURES from a homeless head count show almost 300 members of the capital’s homeless population have been out of home for more than five years.

The figures, to be verified, come as the Government has failed to meet its target of ending long-term homelessness by the end of 2010.

Details from the survey of homeless service users by the Homeless Agency last summer show that while 227 people said they had only been homeless for less than six months, 175 said they had been homeless for more than 10 years, with 123 people homeless for between five and 10 years.

A more recent head count of rough sleepers in the capital, carried out in November, showed a rise in the number of people sleeping on the streets of Dublin from 60 in late 2009 to 70 in 2010.

The detail of the summer survey highlights concerns over the level of long-term homelessness, which was to have been eliminated by the end of 2010.

In all, some 1,118 people in emergency accommodation or sleeping rough were included in the sample. Among the findings:

93 people had spent the past seven nights sleeping rough.

239 people had spent the past seven nights in emergency accommodation.

357 people had spent the past seven nights in private emergency accommodation.

31% of respondents were women.

The average age was 38 years and ages ranged from 17 to 85.

Five people were aged 80 or over with 16 people aged between 70 and 78.

The figures, while dating from last summer and only a “snapshot” of the situation, point to concerns over the Government’s failure to meet its target of ending long-term homelessness by the end of 2010.

For example, 377 people or 37% of respondents said they were parents to 931 children, 629 of whom were aged 18 or under. However, just 202 of these children were living with their parent or parents, and one was living with them only at weekends.

Almost one-third of children were living with their parents in homeless accommodation, yet of all those surveyed just 13, or 1.2%, of respondents were in paid employment.

The budget is likely to impinge on some of those surveyed — 242 respondents were receiving the Jobseekers Allowance and 298 were receiving Disability Allowance, both of which were cut. The vast majority of respondents were Irish, with 36 Poles, 20 British and others from Lithuania, Nigeria and Latvia.

HOMELESS FIGURES: THE GRIM REALITY

227 people homeless for less than six months.

175 people homeless for more than 10 years.

123 people homeless five to 10 years.

377 people said they had children.

202 children were living with their parent or parents and almost one-third of children were in homeless accommodation.