BUDGET 2016: Coalition misses chance to tackle homelessness, warn groups

The Government has again failed to address the spiralling homelessness crisis, according to a number of organisations — amid warnings of more people on the streets by Christmas.

While measures in Budget 2016 included a pledge of at least an additional 9,500 social housing units by 2018 — with a third of those to be in place next year — and an increase in funding for emergency accommodation, Focus Ireland and Threshold said the Government’s plans unveiled yesterday were a missed opportunity.

In his address, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said tackling homelessness was a “key priority”, with action to include funding 500 modular housing units and an increase of €17m in the current allocation for emergency accommodation, meaning the total amount available for tackling homelessness next year is €70m — up 55% on last year’s figure.

But Focus Ireland director of advocacy, Mike Allen, said: “The minister and the Government have yet again done nothing and there is every reason to believe that the number of families who are homeless will have doubled yet again to over 1,500 families and up to 3,000 children by the time we reach budget day next year.”

He said measures that delivered rent certainty, plus a rise in rent supplement and tax changes for residential landlords to ensure an increase in number of properties to rent were needed to help alleviate the crisis.

“We had worried that decisions would be ‘too little-too-late’ — but we never expected that the Government would fail to take any significant measures to tackle homelessness,” he said. “How a government looking at distributing the €1.5 billion benefits from a growing economy could conspire to allocate nothing additional to tackling the growing causes of family homelessness is beyond understanding.”

Threshold welcomed increased funding for homeless services but the organisation’s chairwoman, Senator Aideen Hayden, said the focus should be on preventing families from becoming homeless in the first place.

“Families struggling to pay their rent simply can’t wait another two to three years for the Government’s proposals to increase housing supply to take effect,” she said.

Niamh Randall of the Simon Communities also said more prompt measures were needed, while housing association Clúid said most of the increase in social housing spending — €47.7m out of €69m — will be on Housing Assistance Payment, paid to private landlords.

At his media briefing, Environment Minister Alan Kelly also announced an increase in the rent limits for the Homeless HAP Pilot in order to allow more homeless families in Dublin move out of hotel and emergency accommodation and find homes.