Quarter of Dublin charity's homeless beds used by workers on June night

Staff at Dublin Simon Community are recording increased numbers of workers who have "nowhere to live" and are requiring emergency beds. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

On one night earlier this month, a quarter of the emergency beds for a homeless charity in Dublin were occupied by working people.

Staff at Dublin Simon Community are recording increased numbers of workers who have "nowhere to live" and are requiring emergency beds.

Dublin Simon reports that on one night in June, 33 of their 129 emergency beds were taken up by workers.

These included:

• cleaners, 
• event and retail security staff, 
• taxi drivers, van drivers and lorry drivers,
• scaffolders, electricians and construction workers, 
• healthcare assistants and carers, 
• shop workers and retail staff, 
• barbers, 
• bar workers.

The charity say that a number of factors have led to the growth in workers requiring beds.

The "scarcity of suitable accommodation, soaring rents, the wider cost-of-living crisis, and notices to quit coming to the end of their term," all contributed to the rise.

A spokesperson explained: "The individuals impacted report attending viewings where hundreds of people were vying for the same room or property for rent. Single people are at a distinct disadvantage as they lack access to a combined income, making them even more susceptible to homelessness.

Dublin Simon Community senior manager of emergency services Niamh Brennan said: "These people are getting up in the morning, doing a full day’s work and then making their way to emergency accommodation to try to get some rest. 

It is deeply demoralising for those who are working to have to rely on emergency beds in homeless services to lay their head down at night.

Ms Brennan noted that a "severe bottleneck" had landed onto the Dublin Simon Community.

The charity's CEO Catherine Kenny added: "There are skilled construction workers and tradespeople relying on beds in emergency accommodation. We have essential workers providing healthcare to the most vulnerable being pushed into crisis."

She called for the immediate implementation of short and medium-term homelessness prevention interventions.

“We need fully resourced tenancy sustainment services, homelessness prevention teams to be established in each local authority, and a review of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to reflect market rates, to occur in conjunction with the longer-term plan to increase housing supply.

“Moreover, we are calling on Government to deliver sustained funding for the homelessness sector that reflects the full cost of service provision, accounts for the extraordinary surge in need, and appropriately remunerates our trained professional staff who are working at and beyond capacity.”