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TWO OF THE country’s most experienced homelessness campaigners have criticised the head of Dublin City Council’s homelessness body for comments made at the council’s policing committee meeting yesterday.
Eileen Gleeson of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said that homelessness often resulted from years of “bad behaviour” and could not be solved by unauthorised groups handing out food.
“Let’s be under no illusion here, when somebody becomes homeless it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes years of bad behaviour probably, or behaviour that isn’t the behaviour of you and me,” Gleeson told the Council’s policing committee yesterday.
She added:
If they’re only getting a cup of soup and they’re homeless it isn’t helpful.
Gleeson’s remarks were covered on the front page of the Irish Times today and have been widely criticised this morning.
Brother Kevin Crowley, who runs the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin, said he was appalled at the comments.
The centre, located close to the city centre on Bow Street, provides breakfast and lunch for people who are homeless, in addition to handing out food parcels each Wednesday.
“We have people leaving here in the evening times, after 3.30 after having a dinner,” Brother Kevin told Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One this morning.
Some of those people are walking the streets at nighttime and certainly they’re glad to get a cup of tea or a cup of soup because otherwise what will they do for the rest of the night if they don’t get something to eat or to drink?
Father Peter McVerry, who also spoke to the programme, said he admired Brother Kevin’s restraint on the issue.
He went on to strongly criticise Gleeson’s comments, and also took aim at Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for recent comments on the issue.
What did Leo say?
Answering questions from TheJournal.ie on Saturday, Varadkar said that Ireland had “one of the lowest levels of homelessness” – despite a record number of people living in emergency accommodation.
Junior housing minister Damien English defended Varadkar’s remarks in the Dáil yesterday and said negative coverage of the homelessness crisis was damaging to Ireland’s international reputation. English also referenced an OECD report which, he said, “sees Ireland in the top tier of 30 international nations”.
Speaking to Sean O’Rourke, McVerry said:
“I am absolutely furious at what Eileen Gleeson was saying, furious at what the Taoiseach said the other day.
It started with the Taoiseach when he said we had a low level of homelessness compared to other countries. He’s actually quoting an OECD report from 2015 which is now out of date and which explicitly states in the report that you cannot use the report to compare homelessness between countries because countries use different definitions of homelessness.
Other countries included people who were staying with friends or relatives because they could not find alternative accommodation, he said.
If Ireland’s figures – which cover the number of people in emergency accommodation – were calculated in the same way, McVerry said, “our figures would be around 70,000 or 80,000″.
McVerry said that Eileen Gleeson’s comments about years of bad behaviour were “an insult to many homeless people”.
People often became homeless over a very short period of time, McVerry said, because of evictions or rent increases.
Gleeson, who had spoken to the programme before Brother Kevin and Peter McVerry, came back on the line to respond to McVerry’s remarks but said she did not want to engage in an on-air row with the campaigner.
Asked about her widely-reported comments yesterday, she told the host that unauthorised volunteers who help the homeless were well intentioned, but that their intervention can prevent those in need from availing of supports from professionals.
She said that homelessness was complicated and there are standards and requirements that must be met in providing services, particularly when dealing with vulnerable adults and children.
Homelessness is complicated. In providing services there’s requirements and standards that should be met particularly when dealing with vulnerable adults and children… They have particular problems and they need to be worked with.
She told Sean O’Rourke it would be more beneficial if volunteers linked in with the professional services, such as Simon and Focus, in providing outreach services. She stressed several times that it was important to get people longer term help.
If we’re to solve the homelessness crisis, we must do it in a structured way. People continuing to help them with soup and sandwiches, while it’s well intentioned, it isn’t going to solve the problem and it would be much more beneficial if volunteers would link into the existing services.
Gleeson said the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive doesn’t provide food or drinks to people sleeping rough, but that they do provide important details of services. There were also day services providing food and drinks, Gleeson said.
We have medical services, shower facilities, language translation, harm reduction, laundry facilities. We have them, we’re funding them. They’re already in the system.
When asked about Gleeson’s comments, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said today that he would have thought that “any support or any contributions to help people who are homeless are of course are welcome”.
He surmised that what he thought was meant by Gleeson was that it would be “better” to have that kind of work centralised through the work that government and charities do.
“All of us want to bring about change,” he said.
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2008 homeless adults in Ireland: 1,388
2017 homeless adults in Ireland: 5,250
An increase of 278%
Irish debt in 2008: €50 billion
Irish debt in 2017: €200 billion
An increase of 300%
I wonder are these two linked?
@Franklin Roosevelt: poor national governance.
@Joe Bloggs: Anyone remember Simon Coveney? When he was Minister for Housing he promised that measures were in place to sort out our dreadful homelessness situation. He is now Minister for Foreign Affairs despite his utter failure in his previous two ministerial portfolios. Whats ‘kin happening in Ireland???? We are being led by a bunch of halfwits.
@Frank Cauldhame:
That waste of space Coveney is the symbol of how FG reward abject failure.
The soup kitchens have never proclaimed to try and solve the problem all we are doing is providing a bit of hot food and a hot drink and some company to someone before they go and sleep in the doorway because the hostels in Dublin are so unsafe that people feel safer in a doorway
Let’s be quite clear what is happening the homeless executive is embarrassed because of all the public exposure the soup runs are generating and we have exposed the grossly inadequate service available
@Chris Turner: Like Mike Allen, the director of advocacy with homeless charity Focus Ireland who said “a lot of the voluntary groups did not know the correct protocol for accessing services and sometimes operated in isolation, even with a degree of rivalry with official teams” or Anthony Flynn of Inner City Helping Homeless who said he didn’t “disagree in certain aspects” when it came to her specific remarks about groups handing out food in the city.”
Are they embarrassed by the soup kitchens too??
@Chris Turner: The reality is most of the people sleeping rough have substance abuse problems. They beg for money for food and accomadation but actually use the money to feed addictions because they get hand outs. Neither side are right and it is a much more complex issue.
@Weldoninhio: if that’s what you’d like to believe that’s fine but I can assure you after the freephone lottery at 10:30 and the hostel bads are assigned to people who are willing to go in if there is enough beds available it’s the likes of Anthony Flynn and inner-city helping Homeless Who provide the only out of hours service Who we would contact to help people because there is absolutely no chance of getting anyone from Dublin city council at that time.
@Kal Ipers: what a disgustingly ignorant comment and a more than sweeping generalization. I met a man a few years ago sleeping on the quays due to a split with his long term partner. He wasn’t begging or looking for money for drugs and had been turned away from emergency accommodation because he had a dog and did not want to give up his only companion. I truly hope you never find yourself in trouble with people like you passing judgement on circumstances wide ranging and beyond your prejudiced grasp.
@Kal Ipers: The reality of the situation is there is loads of programs to help people get off drink and drugs and most people have great success but as soon as they are deemed clean / sober they are put back out onto the streets back into the same circle of friends back to the same ways of life it is a vicious circle that needs to be broken and the only way to do that is provide people with housing
In my opinion if you can surprise them with the adequate help they need and housing it cost less money in the long term but that would mean services having a joined up approach to helping someone and it is not happening are present in this country
@Kal Ipers: absolutely agree, very complex situation it’s not the same situation for everyone who is homeless, there’s a myriad of reasons, some could be solved with some government input, some will never be solved no matter what.
@Kal Ipers: the majority of homeless are not addicts
@Niall Cleary: I know a lot about the dealings with the people who sleep rough. The fact you met one person does not negate the 100s I have dealth with in one way or the other. Those SLEEPING ROUGH are mostly addicts and that is the fact. People mix up homeless and rough sleepers. You are the ignorant one who is using one person’s story, go work with them and you will change your tune very quickly.
I have a lot of compassion for people who turn to drugs and alcohol due to some truly horrific events. Any addict in fact but the public don’t really and would support many being locked up. Just because someone is on the streets doesn’t make them good nor bad but don’t trust an addict and don’t enable them which lots of charities unfortunately do.
@Kal Ipers: I disagree, a portion have drug problems but there are not 3000 drug addicted children living in emergency accommodation or sleeping in cars!!
@Chris Turner: finally someone who knows what they,re talking about!i was myself in this situation for the same reasons you just mentioned a bad split up and no substances abuse(i don’t even drink socially) saying that homeless people are all addicts is doing them a disservice many a night i needed the money for hot food and a bed in a tourist hostel hostel/b&b.it’s because of people like you that some who used to give money to the homeless have stopped thinking that their money is going to be spend on drugs or alcohol!i remember being told by people that i didn’t look homeless because i always shaved& made sure i looked presentable!!
@Kal Ipers: The definition of a ROUGH SLEEPER is a homeless person.
I hope life is good to you and yours and none of you ever end up as ROUGH SLEEPERS. Shame on you.
@Kal Ipers: you have dealt with 100’s in one way or another! Sounds very suspect Kal! Very suspect indeed!!! OK – I’ll call it – you’re a spoofer. You could not give a fiddlers about homeless people but this looks bad on your leader & administration so you feel compelled to talk out your behind yet again here. As for compassion – ok – sure!
@Kal Ipers: You’re a disgusting person. A poisonous troll.
@Chris Turner: well that’s where you are wrong like many people you believe there is a lot of detox/rehab programmes available when in fact there is a huge shortage people have to wait months to get in some of them unless you can afford it financially and go private also the majority of them are either in dublin city or county.but i agree with you many relapse after being clean for months because when the treatment is over they are left to their own devices no follow up,some of them having nowhere to go except the streets or having to go back to the same area/people they used to take drugs!!
Giving these jobs to people who have no touch with reality. Dare i say it “middle class do gooders”!(i said it)
@Chris Tobin: as far as i can see this government is at odds with the people, unelected leader not listening to the voice of the people and making decisions that are mot in the interests of the Irish people wellbeing
@David Huston: You are so right.
The homelessness campaigners who exploit the issue to score political points & for personal advancement not liking facts if they don’t serve them. They like their spinning too.
@DPentony: yeah, as we all know, if you want to become rich and famous, helping out the homeless is the way to do it.
Moron
@DPentony: amazing how DPenthony’s comment is still getting thumbs up lol
@Franklin Roosevelt: It’s a vast government conspiracy from the evil nasty fascist blueshirts.
@Fred Croydon: hey fraperoom boys, please spend some of that 5 mill propaganda money answering this:
Where will my well educated children be able to afford to rent or buy is a few years?
Like it or not, FFGs neo liberal dream has turned into a nightmare for all but the super monied elite in this country.
People with well paying jobs are becoming homeless, but not to worry the vulture funds can buy complete apartment complexes off the plans!
@Fred Croydon: You seem like you live in a basement in London, what’s house prices like there with your tory mates looking after things. Blueshirt trolling has an international dimension now.
Its time people like this was removed from office,
A lot of people are furious with this gov, trying to play down a homeless crisis,
It could equally be said that sure crisis emerge from continuous bad behaviour in our govs! We need a new gov, new politicians with values in the best interests of the people of the country.
@Adrian: ‘Junior housing minister Damien English defended Varadkar’s remarks in the Dáil yesterday and said negative coverage of the homelessness crisis was damaging to Ireland’s international reputation.’
There you go: putting the country’s interest first lol
The blueshirt attitude towards problems of their policy. It’s your fault you don’t go golfing with potential Ministers how else will you get cut rate prices for NAMA properties. It’s your own fault.
I listened to part of that interview. As I was driving I had to turn it off with anger. She fumbled and stuttered . It was horrendous . She says now she could have probably used better language. If someone who is dealing with homelessness doesn’t know what language to use GET OUT OF THE JOB NOW. She was a disgrace
@Tony Kennedy:
Eileen Gleeson is not fit for purpose in her job and must be sacked.
Conor Skehan is not fit for purpose in his job and must be sacked.
Damien English is not fit for purpose as Junior Minister and ought to be sacked. However seeing as how Fine Gael rewards dismal failure (see Simon Coveney) he will probably be promoted.
In the meantime we must continue to warn international investors about how foolish it would be to invest in Ireland as we are a failing state thanks to our housing catastrophe.
What an arrogant, ignorant and incredibly hurtful remark The homelessness committee head made. How are people like that in positions like that?
@Emma Collins: 100% shocked at Leos comments as well were is our respect for people in difficult situations. In 20 years time the children growing up in BBs and hotel Rooms will be the new residentail redress it is wrong after so many years in Goverment blame statistics for their Failings .
@PVD: I’m not at all shocked. Leo made his attitudes well known over the years. He slated Gareth Fitzgerald in the dail for being too left wing and also said he doesn’t believe in social democracy. The hunger games probably best describes his view of life, a social Darwinist through and through all said with a silver(forked) tongue
@PVD: They will not be in a redress scheme. That was due to abuse by people “caring” for them. It is an insult to their suffering to compare the people being housed and taken care of by their own parents.
@Kal Ipers: i don’t want to insult any suvivors but having children grow up attend school etc from a hotel room no were to play on the streets during the day when not in school . I call this totally inapproiate for them and it will be part of a review / redress as to how society / Governent has cared for them . A generation are suffering because of this Crises
@Emma Collins: Seems to be the general attitude
in this government, from the top down,
@PVD: The government is not reaponsible for housing people. The first responsibility for taking care of these children’s needs are their parents. Given the option is sleeping on the streets or emergency accomadation the government is provide a basic service. You do know these people could move out of major population centres and be housed? There parents have primarily created the situation. The kids should be suing them in the future
@Kal Ipers: 50% of people earn less than 33,000 per annum. Explain how someone on that income can ever hope to buy or rent a home. I suppose the economic environment is their fault and not the responsibility of those in power tasked to deal with it and paid handsomely.
@Misanthrope: those people need to gain skills and education that will enable them to get higher paid jobs..if you want to earn more money then you have to put the effort in and go out and work for it. Life is what you make of it.
@Kal Ipers: If the government is not responsible for housing people, why are they allowing thousands of migrants to come to our country and housing them . I have seen countless Irish people sleeping on our streets, but i have never yet seen any Arab or black people homeless, maybe you could explain how we are responsible for foreigners but not our own???
@Sam Harms: great, who will work on those one million.plus jobs then?
@Sam Harms: Bullshit, you must be another spoiled baby that’s never known a poor day in your life. Is the fraperoom supplied with free copies of American self help books.
Don’t you know they are written by snake oil salesmen to con the guilable..Go out and improve your knowledge of the real world.
@Jointheclubtoo: not bullshit at all. I grew up in Tallaght in quite a poor area and some of the people I went to school with have spent their whole life since leaving school on the dole while others became doctors, engineers, accountants, nurses, teachers. Everyone was given the same school education but it was up to the individual what they made of their life.
@Carmel Diana O’Hara: you obviously don’t walk through town in the mornings. I always pass non nationals sleeping on the street. And they are our own, any human being is our own. It’s not like they chose to have their homes blown up and families killed.
@Sam Harms: Yeah I know Tallaght is well known starting point for those at the pinnacle of Irish society. What is it, the private schools and Old Boys Club I suppose. Anyone from Tallaght that doesn’t make it has only themselves to blame.
@Carmel Diana O’Hara: it might be that arabs/african are less prone to substance abuse and have a better work ethics than some irish due to the poor,harsh conditions they encountered in their home countries and not because they were given free houses,mobile phones,new cars(and insurance) as some would like you to believe,you can’t blame them for doing the jobs that some irish are too proud or lazy to do or because the pay is really bad,and like you said the majority of people begging money for drugs&alcohol are irish nationals!!
How can someone on a salary of over €80k have any understanding of the plight of someone on the average industrial wage let alone someone who finds themselves homeless maybe not through bad behaviour but through no fault of their own.
@thejamer: the kicker is, single people on 80k can find themselves homeless due to lack of supply. And if not, they displace someone on 50k. As for the kids entering the workplace, tough luck as far as FFG are concerned.
This country truely is being led by muppets.
@thejamer: that’s not necessarily true, if they pay their high taxes then they feel the pinch, they would be keen to know what this government does with their hefty contributions. Education has taken many out of impoverished circumstances and into the higher echelons, they should not forget, someone else’s taxes provided their education, so did deep…
Leo is up so high in his ivory tower, how could he possibly see the homeless figures.
It’s absolutely disgusting. Power has gone to his head, enda taught him well.
@Trevor Hayden: Leo Varadker is not in touch with the people! He’s not even in touch with people living in houses never mind the homeless. Did Leo and Damian English go to school together?? They are like a double,act! I can’t see any worthwhile changes happening while that pair are in the hot seats!,,,
If you’re homeless it’s your own fault. How very neoliberal of you darlings
@John M: Lost your home?
Tough luck, that’s capitalism baby.
Made an investment in a bank that gambled 3x their net assets?
Oh no, we must do whatever it takes to ensure you get your 3% dividend and principle back!
@Franklin Roosevelt: 2 legs good 4 legs bad
I feel sorry for Fr McVerry,worked all his life to help the homeless,only to see it all thrown back in his face.
I’m sure the Strat Comms unit will move to reassure us all with a tweeted photo of our Glorious Leader putting his socks into the washing machine or something
3124 children in emergency accommodation is it their fault also
The soup kitchens have embarrassed The homeless and highlighted the grocery inadequate service
But hey I’m alright Jack
With comments like that is it any wonder the housing situation is as bad as it is . FG are only interested in keeping their friends happy it does not include people on social welfare and anything they do they are dragged kicking and screaming to the table But then we only gave ourselves to blame as lots of the working class people and young are to foking lazy to come out on polling day.
Eileen Gleeson’s comments in today’s IT are frankly disgraceful. She generalises in rremarks made about “bad behaviour” and, in doing so, is stigmatising and further marginalising people who are already on the margins of society. Most of these people did not get there without good reason, most likely social deprivation or a disadvantaged upbringing. Each day I walk from Pearse Train Station to my workplace and I pass at least five homeless people. It fills me with guilt and I find it depressing to see human beings, children of God -if you’re of a religious persuasion – cast like worthless litter on the pavements. These people didn’t come from nowhere. A mother once gave birth to them and, one hopes, looked lovingly at the face of their new born. Instead of condemning these people surely we should be asking what happened between then and now to bring them to a place of such destitution. If we view ourselves as a society and a human race, then we cannot just wash our hands of people, fellow citizens , who have fallen on hard times. We each have a duty to help them in any way we can.
Dublin City Council operates in an area where homeless numbers are greatest. Its response to this crisis has not been sufficient or near being so. People are being forced to sleep outside because there are not enough beds in shelters. Charities are struggling to get sleeping bags in sufficient quantities to keep people from freezing. Reopening voids and house building has occurred at a level that is shamefully negligible. Recently, walking at Lr Dorset St I noticed numerous boarded up flats.
If Eileen Gleeson and the officials in the Housing Dept of Dublin City and other Councils are unable to do what is required, surely there is an obligation on them to step aside or seek a transfer to another Dept. It is wholly unacceptable to me – and I’m sure many others – to read comments from officials, paid from the public purse, denigrating our citizens.
@Peter: She needs to to be instantly sacked
you wont see an asylum seeker or refugee homless, and still they take in more
@Christy Pop: Ah but you get brownie points from the EU for helping asylum seekers, nothing for homeless Irish though!
Number of votes Fine Gael has lost due to the situation with homelessness in Ireland 0.
@DPentony: exactly.
Fine Gael never really cared about ordinary people. They’ll never get more than 35% of the vote, it was only 25% last time.
They’ll just want the bare minimum to get by, so they can maximize the profits of the multi-nationals, and their lobbying and corporate board counterparts.
Gleeson said the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive doesn’t provide food or drinks to people sleeping rough just details on where to go! And as we all know starving people need lots of details, they also taste wonderful, a details curry and details chips awesome, a club detail sandwich nothing like it. Professionals like her give out advice – volunteers give out what they need most – says it all about Ms “Still in elementary school” Gleeson.
The media debate on homelessness in this country is desperate. It always descends into a slagging match between homeless campaigners and government spokespersons. I’m interested to hear what the public officials working on this issue have to say. Of course they may be captured by the system and need to be prodded by the government to do better, but they may also have a useful perspective to share with us based on their first hand experience.
@Ian O’Mara: I spoke to a staffer in the homeless services section of DCC while on holidays in Kerry and the belligerent contempt she displayed was shocking.
@Misanthrope: You deal with violent addicts that report as homeless and see how you feel. People have to harden themselves. Many of those sleeping rough are the same people that most of the public thinks should be locked up.
@Kal Ipers: There are corrupt politicians and bankers sleeping rough?
That is a surprise.
@Kal Ipers: You including homeless children in your statement?
@Kal Ipers: your not one to judge thousands of people by the behaviour of the minority of skangers are you lol.
@Ian O’Mara:
Exactly – so we must highlight this national emergency to the international media.
It’s the only way it will be resolved.
Ireland must be seen to be a bad place for investment thanks to the housing emergency – that will help the blueshirts get their finger out.
Dreadful week for official comments about homelessness, first Leo Varadkar , then Eileen Gleeson and to top it off Damien English, it is now apparent that there is no will to solve the problem ie, build social housing, nothing else will end this crisis instead government is to attach blame and compare international data on homelessness, in years past , there were never homeless children/families on our streets, there were individuals with complex problems who mostly stayed in hostels, but now we are being persuaded this is ‘normal’, nothing about homelessness is normal, Leo’s’ Republic of Opportunity’ is a lie, he is looking foolish by repeating his mantra, it only makes us angry and shows his party faithful who swoon on his words as gullible and greater fools.
@Honeybee:
We must keep informing the international media about Ireland’s 3rd world housing status.
@Colin Morris: I agree. It’s the very fear of this that has motivated their typically brutal attempt to suppress and normalise the issue.
Eileen Gleeson is not for purpose in her job,. She must be immediately fiired for gross incompetence.
Damien English is not fit for purpose as Junior Minister = he must sacked immediately as Junior Minister and forego any pension entitlements he has accrued as junior minister thanks to his gross incompetence.
If Leo Varadkar’s Goebbels-style department of Spin in behind this new attempt to minimise the national catastrophe that is Ireland’s housing situation then it must be closed and Varadkar arrested for crimes against the state.
IN the meantime we must continue to highlight to the world that Ireland is not a place to do business as there is a national housing emergency.
Avoid Ireland.
She’s not wrong. And councils should be an awful lot harder on antisocial tenants.
@Weldoninhio: I think she may be being quoted out of context but for someone in her position to not be able to communicate properly, she should probably be working elsewhere
@Weldoninhio: Maybe they could do something about antisocial trolls like you while they are at it.
She should be sacked immediately, disgusting comment.
@Cultural Marxist: good to see you are starting to cop on
Fr Peter McVerry should note that anger is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. He should repent and seek forgiveness.
@Padraic Reid: unbelievable comment, feel the shame
@Padraic Reid: Ah, but does the good book not also say “let he who is not a gobsh! te cast the first stone”.
I think the comments were taken out of context. There are different types of homelessness. There are those who are in long term homelessness due to issues such as addiction, mental health issues etc. No matter the state of the economy this section of people will drift in and out of homelessness. These are the section she spoke of. I have to agree that giving soup is not going to solve the problem.
@Blah blah: Take it easy you are making sense. Do you not realise the homeless industry, all 26 quangos, are on their weekly rant headed by McVerry and the usual high paid advocates. Sinn Fein and the left run DCC and so are responsible for homeless services. If they had any shame they would be firing themselves not the person carrying out their policy.
@Michael Reilly: I agree with every word!! People need to wake up and realise there are more pressing issues on the country
@Blah blah: How do you know that she was speaking for only one section of the homeless, she did not differentiate, you are doing it for her. If you were homeless and walking the streets in freezing cold weather, i think you would be very glad with a bowl of soup.
Varadkar is a disgrace. The man panders to big business and IBEC whilst leaving those less fortunate in our nation to suffer. I pay taxes from my hard earned to enable the betterment of society as a whole not for our elected officials to act like this. Will never vote FG again a lesson learnt.
@Horace: Big business are waking up to the fact that Ireland is not a good place in which to do business as no-one in their right mind should be encourage to move to a country with a 3rd World housing crisis.
The sooner these parasites are removed from government the better.They have done nothing to sort out the housing emergency in this country.Just as the labour party did screw every cent out of the people and the alliance parties doing nothing.Its time well over due for FiannaFail to pull the plug on this governmentThe head of the new government is the most useless leader ever.
@James Mc Loughlin: Answer me this who are you going to put in as heard of Government and for this person to sort out the homelessness right now. There’s no one.
@Alan Scott: Me, I have no experience but i bet i could do a better job than than Leo Varadaker, his record so far. Failed as Minister for health. Failed as Minister for Social Protection, and is now failing as leader of this country. My cat could do a better job than he is doing, so i know i would be brilliant.
Varadker using stats from 2015 ,such a smarmy ,arrogant ,two faced, supersensitive,plastic politician .you can only fool some of the people some of the time leo,and your little spin machine cant dig you out .
@Anthony Gallagher: His little spin machine is costing us tax payers 6 million a year!
So you’re homeless sleeping rough possibly with
Addiction and mental problems ..and a person involved in dealing with this issue suggests that an ad hoc approach of food and shelter provided by a myriad of groups might not be the best way to deal with this issue as it actually does nothing to solve the issue long term..and the person also said that the issues are more complex than people realise.
Think those views should be taken on board as they seem pragmatic to me and honest ..I honestly can’t see what the fuss is about if any problem is to be solved all views opinions ideas experience need to be utilised..and ^offence sensitivity^ left at home
Time for FF to pull the plug on this uncaring government. DUBLIN City Council need to transfer Ms. Gleeson to their Gardening Department.
We are about to reach the anniversary of the Apollo House occupation, is that why the authorities are running scared and taking an unacceptable attitude to homelessness?
Lots of people getting hot headed cause of the misuse of homelessness I suspect.
In Ireland homelessness includes people sleeping rough and people in temporary accommodation – and we need some way to distinguish them as the problems and solutions are not the same. The figures below are representative of Dublin only and on the date that they were collected.
In a nutshell we need 3,000 new homes for those in emergency accommodation and 200 new homes for those sleeping rough….. some may have issues of one from or another but these, if they exist, can be tackled afterwards. The first priority must be to have no one feeling the need to sleep on the streets and providing safe accommodation for these people. Running in parallel and unrelated is the requirement for the state to build more houses. I have a sneaking suspicion that the whole housing provision system should be moved from a local to a state managed issue.
Homeless Dublin 4th April 2017
Adults – in emergency accommodation – 3093
Children – in emergency accommodation – 2041
Total in emergency accommodation – 5219
Total people sleeping rough – 195
Leo got any easy ride from the media over his comments which were a disgrace from any leader to say.
without these good people even giving a cup of soup to someone we could be finding more people dead in front door ways!
How dare anyone suggest that the principal reasons people are sleeping on the streets is because of addiction and other personal problems. Ireland is unique in this respect. All our homelessness is the fault of greedy landlords.
FG truly are the worst of the political parties .. Useless…
We need a Coup like what’s happening in Zimbabwe at the moment.. run that loser Leo out of Dail Eireann take our country back from Greed.
Ah,Eileen you’re all heart.
The homeless don’t vote.
Helping hands homeless action group cork. We go out 3 times a fortnight. We’re obviously wasting our time. Or are we???
@Paul O Riordan: you’re not, only showing up the states deficits. Keep it up.
Socky should go homeless for awhile, sure isn’t to bad apparently.
Shame on her.
And in another article apparently our “average” level of homelessness is based on old figures and not counting circa 70% of homeless persons lol. Strategic communications unit working overtime lol
Yes, people are homeless because of years of bad behaviour of government not taking actions to. #EndhomelessnessNow Finland and Austria has virtually no homeless people, plenty of solutions just deliberate policy of neglect of social housing, cooperatives housing and affordable housing in favour of private rental, developer, vulture capitalists investors and banks.
we in ireland tend to sit on our arses and complain about the government from our armchairs instead of taking to the streets like our spanish counterparts, our so called leaders are so far out of touch with the difficulties ordinary people deal with on a daily basis. speaking as an ex homeless heroin addict i for one am sick of the same dribble spouted by successive governments, take leo varadkers comments on the train drivers dispute that they dont deserve a pay rise while giving him and his cabinet yet another 5000 pay rise. he laughed at gerry adams comment that the 30 euro old age pension rise was only the price of a bottle of wine for some its the difference between heating their house or suffering the cold yet he ran up a bar bill in the dail entertaining the canadian prime minister of 4200 euro paying 29 euros per bottle of white wine and 30 euro for red. there is a catastropic failure within irish tyranny and dictatorship running the country. i m disgusted and ashamed to be irish
Yet again eileen gleeson another over paid toff allowed to make childish comments
Having met Fr. McVerry on occasion, I can only say this is a genuine, highly intelligent, involved, man-on-the-ground, with expertise and experience that qualifies his statements. None of the afore-mentioned qualities can be applied to either the Taoiseach or the council official in question. Haven’t we, seriously, had more than enough of ignorant politicos flapping their lips, full of themselves, but completely unaware of their state of idiocy??!!
By issuing statistics re Ireland’s excellent position in the homelessness league, as we are being led to believe, the government is seen to deny reality, when will this type of attitude cease? Haven’t we had enough of denial over many serious and shameful issues? It’s as though those close to the homeless debacle are being told they are exaggerating or casting doubt on this wonderful mother state, a state that embraces all…so long as it can step over the horrors that beleaguer an increasingly large section of our population, homelessness. There will always be the incorigibles, homed or homeless. There are those who will find living under a roof hard going,after years on the streets, they will need the right kind of support to adapt, including the right sort of sheltered accommodation in many instances. Children do not ask to be made homeless so every effort has to be made to accommodate them, even when their parents are or were using. Do not punish the children. The right support is needed, over a period of time. Bitter remarks made by Ms Gleeson are not warranted…be realistic by all means but do not take a totalitarian stance. If a person is hungry then he/she is just that, is there a reason for starving them, Ms Gleeson? Please elaborate..your attidude is akin to don’t feed the monkeys in the zoo, they are being fed enough, by whom?
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