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Updated at 3pm
HOMELESSNESS CAMPAIGNERS HAVE compared family hub accommodation being used to house families who are homeless with the direct provision system.
Family hubs – essentially group homes for parents and their children – were introduced by the government this year as an alternative to accommodating families in hotels and b&bs.
However, concerns have been raised that they may ‘normalise’ the issue of family homelessness.
Speaking at the launch of his group’s #mynameis campaign to raise awareness of child homelessness, Inner City Helping Homeless CEO Anthony Flynn said families were essentially being confined to institutions for a large part of the day.
In many cases, he said, only the very highest standard of homeless accommodation was being shown to the media by official bodies.
“Okay, the hubs are fluffy – they’re great, they’re colourful … It’s not where we want children.
We don’t want 50 families using the one fridge, cooking in the one kitchen, and a timeframe around when they can come and go and what they can do.
It’s direct provision … You eat at this time, you drink at this time, you go to bed at this time.
Dr Rory Hearne of Maynooth University, who authored a study on housing and family hubs earlier this year, said he was concerned that – as in the case of the direct provision system – the hubs, which are being set up as a temporary measure, could end up being seen as a long-term solution by government.
“The example we looked at was clean and safe,” said Hearne, “but the problem is that these are institutions”.
“They have to be – and essentially you’re institutionalising families. And the danger is when they spend any long period of time there, that it is damaging on the family irrespective on the quality.
You have 30, 40 or 50 families who don’t know each other who are together in a space that has to monitored – because the people running it have to follow child protection guidelines.
Said Hearne:
The word from one of the families is that these were like prisons – that’s how they described them.
It’s really important that we see a family hub is not a solution to family homelessness. And my big concern would be that we are going to see hundreds if not a thousand families in family hubs in the next year.
The hubs are being rolled out in Dublin in order to end the widespread use of commercial hotels and b&bs for housing homeless families.
A total of 18 hubs are planned for the capital, with a number already operational in the city. It is planned that 634 families will be housed in these hubs while further funds have been committed to developing more.
Niamh Randall of the Simon Communities, who also spoke at this morning’s Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) launch, said that one child in emergency accommodation was one too many.
“What we know is that damage is being done and that the trauma is untold,” Randall said.
Children who spend time homeless in childhood have a much greater risk of spending time homeless as an adult.
The #mynameis campaign was launched by ICHH in order to “change the perception” of homelessness in Ireland, and make children and families the focus, Anthony Flynn, the ICHH CEO, said.
Latest figures show that there were 7,941, men, women and children homeless in June of this year. The number of homeless adults went over 5,000 for the first time ever, and the number of children who are homeless rose to nearly 3,000.
As part of the campaign, volunteers erected 400 posters in Dublin this morning. They have also been placed around Galway City, and there are plans to roll the awareness campaign out to Limerick.
The posters show a child’s face with the #mynameis hashtag. Passers-by are encouraged to share the hashtag as a way of creating a wider conversation around the issue.
ICHH has also been highlighting the case of a nine-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who has been living in emergency accommodation for two years (below) – citing it as an example of the ordeal faced by other families in similar situations.
A video posted by the group shows the boy struggling to ascend the steps of his accommodation, with the aid of a walker.
#MyNameIs David. I am 9 years old. I have cerebral palsy and have been homeless for nearly two years. #morningIreland #liveline #sixone pic.twitter.com/XHLfruRBbn
— MyNameIs (@MyNameCampaign) August 23, 2017
The video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times since it was posted last week. Speaking at this morning’s event, Flynn said there had been no progress from authorities on finding a more suitable home for the family since then.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who served as Minister for Housing until a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this summer, said this morning that the homelessness crisis remained a huge priority for the government. The government was focusing on multiple approaches to address the problem, he told Morning Ireland.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie the Department of Housing said that the current minister, Eoghan Murphy, “acknowledges that the current level of homelessness which families and individuals are experiencing across the country is totally unacceptable”.
People can be assured that this issue remains the top priority for Government. It is important to note that resources and funding are not an issue and will not be an obstacle to the urgent delivery and heavy lifting that is now required.
The minister has written to local authorities requesting that they intensify their efforts and ramp up social housing activity and delivery on the ground, the statement said.
In addition, next week he will hold a Housing Summit in the Custom House, so that he, each of the 31 local authorities’ Chief Executives and the Department’s senior management housing team can explore and finalise solutions that will help to house those families and individuals in emergency accommodation and manage more effectively the influx of new households finding themselves homeless.
The statement went on to reference a number of projects being undertaken by local authorities to address the issue, as well as the government’s national ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ housing and homelessness plan. A review of that plan is under way which aims to ”identify what new and additional actions can be taken to improve the supply of housing across all tenures, with a particular emphasis on social and affordable housing”.
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If we didn’t have so many dependent foreigners requiring Direct Provision perhaps we would have more funds to help and provide better facilities for our struggling native brothers and sisters.
@Tommy Duke: and should all other countries return all the Irish on any firm of welfare home too, because I am quite certain there are more of them then we have here. Now, where would that leave us financially and what would our homeless numbers be?
@Paul Fahey: I doubt that you will find many Irish on welfare in Sub Saharan Africa.
@Paul Fahey: I wouldn’t have a problem with that. The thoughts of Irish people milking welfare systems abroad is repulsive.
@Jonny: oh, so you only have an issue with immigration if it involves sub-Saharan Africa? At least on this occasion you are not trying to hide your bigotry.
@Tommy Duke: first off, the people in the Direct Provision are our brothers and sisters as much as the “native” ones which you see as being of a higher value.
Secondly – I agree with your general statement that there should be nobody in direct provision. They should all be counted as homeless and given equal and improved facilities.
@Paul Fahey: You won’t find many Irish getting welfare abroad. Most emigrated to improve their lives. However you will find many entitled to pensions and such.
@Mary Murphy: what utter tosh, listen to yourself. I can assure you there are far more Irish claiming welfare abroad than immigrants are claiming it in Ireland.
Yeah, DNA tests should be required so that not a precious tax cent is spent on someone with the wrong genes!
@Cicero: they are not my brothers or sisters. What an utter pile rubbish you spout. Most are not refugees either. The failed ones should be deported. That’s the law. But the bleeding heart far left liberals like you cry, stamp your feet and use words like racist or bigot if anyone had a different opinion to you.
@KingBen: countering name calling with name calling, very progressive. I’d far rather see a sub Saharan person trying to better their life receiving support from the Irish government than a home grown, life-long dole merchant. Yet I’m a bleeding heart who you’d put down for favouring someone not born on the same island as me.
@Quango: what name did I call him? Read my post again and let me know. I wouldn’t go as far as putting you down, as you say, but I would take your dangerous ideologies with a pinch of salt. And I do applaud you for not using the words bigot or racist which seems to be the default for the far left in any discussion.
@KingBen: Bleeding Hearts are what the modern folk are now calling Snowflakes, but you already knew that. Now if you could elaborate as to why the fact that I’d support economic migrants to Ireland over non-working Irish is considered “dangerous” that’d be great.
@Quango: still trying to deal with your first post which you are trying to ignore. So I didn’t call cicero a name then as I thought. Why don’t you elaborate on why you make things up in your posts. Is it because you have nothing to say?
@KingBen: You called Cicero a bleeding heart, which is meant in mockery. Given I’ve had to explain that, there is no hope for reasonable debate. Good luck and good night to you.
In the north side of Dublin dept’ have purchased two adjoining houses, which were used as a guest house with 9 bedrooms. For over 2 millions AND have commenced repairs,and which could cost another million. To house 12 families. They are also providing 10 carpark spaces.
There’s got to be someone making money out of this. This amount of money would buy 14 houses in dublin
@Benjamin Dolan: I taught the same thing Benjamin, but that auld brown envelope has to get priority.
@Benjamin Dolan: If people were offered houses outside of Dublin they have NO right to complain about hubs.
@Mary Murphy: That’s your only solution Mary, move them outside Dublin. Government policies and bank fraud have seen many people made homeless. The answer is as, was years ago, build social housing.
But under neoliberal governments this will never happen. It interferes with the so called “housing market”, that rigged “market” that sees homes unaffordable to ordinary people, and allows landlords to name their own price for rent.
Homelessness is an industry where a few well connected, well heeled people are making a lot of money out of the industry.
@Dave Doyle: Dave grow up. We all can’t live in Dublin. There are plenty of houses around the country that can be offered. I had to leave the country to come to Dublin to work so why can’t it be reversed ?
@Dave Doyle: build more social housing yes .. but Mary is correct . If parents are refusing a house and staying put in these hotels and family hubs .then its their own doings and choices . Parents and these organisations can’t keep blaming everyone else if they’ve refused a house already .
@Suzie Sunshine: Thank you Suzie. Another voice of reason
@Mary Murphy: it was the oldest trick in the book years ago .. declare yourself homeless in order to skip the housing list and it worked back because there was a supply of social housing then . Problem now is that there isn’t any housing readily available. This pick and choosing is a big problem that needs to be addressed .
@Suzie Sunshine: So everyone that’s homeless has refused to be housed outside of Dublin? Yeah.. right.
@Dave Doyle: where did I say that ?
@Mary Murphy: have people actually been offered houses outside Dublin????.
I recall something about such an idea being put out there. But as far as I remember – thats what it was – an idea.
Never heard of it actually being implemented
@EUGENE 70 percent: at least 2,000 refusals of houses for really stupid reasons ..
@Suzie Sunshine: Where’s the citation to back that claim up? I could go further with this comment Suzie, but i’m trying to be a gentleman.
Problem solved.. Amnesty international just done a survey and 27% of the people they questioned said they would take a refugee into their home to live with them. That will take the pressure off big time. So exactly when are these people going to start opening the doors?
where are the fathers of all these children, have they not a duty to contribute to a house or apartment for them. And what ever happened to taking responsibility for providing your OWN house or apartment where you can afford. Why should the tax payer be on the hook for everything
@Peter Byrne: Where are the fathers?
Nice diversionary tactic.
They can be pursued once the homeless have been housed.
The housing crisis is now so embarrassing that the taxpayer needs to be on the hook – Ireland’s housing catastrophe is damaging the economy as investors won’t want to invest in a 3rd world sh!th0le like Ireland.
Okay I understand the concern but we don’t have the houses available for people who are able to pay for them, let alone people who can’t or won’t pay. They are getting shelter and a chance to cook for themselves, paid for by the Irish taxpayer. It gives them a base at least from where they can start. I’m not okay either with handing out free houses to everyone, it isnt fair on those who are working hard and paying their way but we really need more housing to come on board. However until then this is a good start.
@Karen Doyle: Well said.What is that guy Hall doing at a lefty outing of the homeless industry. The sight of the high paid advocates of the homeless industry using that child with cerebral palsy is pathetic.
Next step….privatise the problem to companies registered offshore ergo it’s not government’s problem anymore and the cost can not be scrutinised ‘for commercial reasons’
Fg and labour voters and supporters should hang their head in shame.how can they sleep at night knowing what these politicians have done to family’s.
@@mdmak33: To be fair, most voters prioritised spending on housing and homelessness, along with healthcare, above tax cuts in polls leading up to the last election. it was only a small minority who selfishly prioritised free water services for themselves above everything else, and they’d have been unlikely to have voted for Fine Gael or Labour.
Has to be better than hostels and b&b. €37 all in is good value too. I don’t know what the answer is to housing. People that saved and got houses taken back. Young couples trying to get a deposit saved don’t stand a chance. People who were given houses have now bought them . Years ago people were given a house as stop gap till they bought their own home in area of their choice. With rising House prices and inflation they can no longer afford to save.
@Adrienne Lyons: The answer to the housing crisis is simple.
State intervention.
A massive build of state owned, affordable house which are means tested and have no involvement in the cancerous market.
Basically next year’s election needs to focus solely on housing and health.
Parties – like the Fine Fail coaltion – that do not recognise the failure of capitalism when it comes to housing must not be voted for.
So far it would seem that Cleo and fiends in gov. are STILL doing feck all to alleviate the problem !
Direct and immediate state intervention into the housing market is urgently required.
The government must commit to building; owning; means testing and renting at least 100,000 new affordable housing units within 5 years.
there must be absolutely zero market involvement in this.
Capitalism is a failed system when it comes to housing and it must be replaced.
By the way, why has that tragic, pathetic failure of a minister Simon Coveney been commenting on his.
His abject failure to deliver on very specific promises means that he is unfit for purpose as a minister of any kind?
Why has that failed incompetent been promoted?
@Colin Morris:
Another wealthy privileged politician playing politics to satisfy his ego.
All talk and no action. He’ll go far in Fine Gael.
Government needs a building program, now. There’s huge demand for private and rental accommodation, why don’t developers want to build? Is everything just too expensive in Ireland? Also we need to build up, like every other European country.
That this campaign is necessary is a stain on us all.
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/08/28/i-have-a-name/
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