Call to set new target date for ending long-term homelessness

CAMPAIGNERS have called for a new target date to be set to end long-term homelessness, after the Government failed to deliver on its aim of eradicating the problem by end of 2010.

Joyce Loughnan, chief executive of Focus Ireland, said there was an urgent need to deliver on the existing strategy, which she said took years to achieve. Delivery of homes is key to that process, but, as recent figures have shown, the Government’s target of 1,200 housing units in 2010 for people who have been homeless long-term has not been achieved.

Ms Loughnan said there was a need to agree a new deadline for the target of ending long-term homelessness in 2011, so the project did not lose momentum.