Homeless problem is ‘out of control’

The number of people accessing homeless support services from the McVerry Trust last year smashed all annual records as the charity warned that the problem is now “out of control”.

The news came as Housing Minister Simon Coveney admitted that the Government response to the homelessness crisis over the past five years “hasn’t been good enough”, adding: “That’s about to change.”

Publishing its 2015 annual report the Peter McVerry Trust revealed it had an 88% increase in the number of placements in emergency accommodation last year and a 38% rise in the number of people supported through its Open Access service.

In total, the McVerry Trust oversaw 3,847 residential placements provided via emergency homeless accommodation services, with the charity increasing the overall capacity of its homeless services by 23% last year.

However, last year’s trend has continued into 2016 with recent figures showing more than 2,000 children now homeless in Dublin for the first time and another surge in overall homelessness figures.

As for housing services, the trust opened a further 26 apartments, to bring the total number of apartments for homeless people to 132 by the end of the year. There was a 40% increase in the number of participants supported in housing by Peter McVerry Trust in 2015 and the trust supported 171 people to exit homelessness from its homeless and other residential services.

However, the story centres on the spiralling housing crisis, with charity founder Fr Peter McVerry querying why “rapid build” housing will only be ready in 2018, and asking why it cannot be on stream in the next 12 months.

And he said now is the time to consider different solutions, stating: “We cannot solve homelessness without interfering with the rights of property.”

Expanding on that point McVerry Trust CEO, Pat Doyle, said the minister of finance needed to ensure an 18-month moratorium on evictions until the house building scheme was well under way, and that the Government needed to raise the level of rent supplement, link rents to the consumer price index, and get the housing agency to map all vacant dwellings with a view to compulsory purchase orders to convert those units for social housing.

Already demand for services within the trust this year are “the highest ever”, he added.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Minister for Housing Simon Coveney said: “When we look at the numbers who are becoming homeless daily, we have to challenge it. For the past five years the Government response hasn’t been good enough — that’s about to change.”

He said a start has been made regarding the recently-unveiled Government action plan on housing but improvements are needed.

In total the McVerry Trust saw 4,705 unique individuals across its services in 2015, resulting in 8,427 participant engagements — an increase of 89%. That number included 767 people accessing drug stabilisation services, which is a rise of 162% in service activity. The charity also revealed that 13 service users died last year.

www.pmvtrust.ie