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THERE ARE MORE than 10,000 people classified as homeless in Ireland for the fourth month in a row, according to the latest figure from the Department of Housing.
The latest figures for the month of May were released today and show that there are 1,700 families homeless – made up of 6,504 adults and 3,749 children, and totalling 10,253 people overall.
Although this month’s figure represents a drop of 125 people on April’s figure, it also shows that this is the fourth month in a row in which the homeless figure has been above 10,000.
In February there was a total of 10,264 people in homelessness, which climbed further in the months following.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1′s News at One programme, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said:
“We saw a small reduction in the month of May which is welcome. About 75 families left emergency accommodation – actually every week, every month, families are leaving emergency accommodation into homes.
But, we have to remember more than 10,000 people are still in emergency accommodation. Our focus has to remain on them and getting them in homes.
“There’s no doubt about it. The number of children coming into emergency accommodation is unacceptable, there should be no children in emergency accommodation.
Summer
Thousands of children across the country are finishing up the school term today for the summer holidays, leaving those living in emergency accommodation resigned to hotel and B&B rooms for much of the next two months.
“Summer can be a challenging time for any parent, but particularly, parents of children in homelessness, and I’ve met so many myself find it very difficult every day of the year,” Murphy said.
“Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet when it comes to the crisis we face in housing at the minute.
“There’s no one single measure that’s going to solve it, it’s a series of measures that we’re implementing that are going to bring us to a more stable housing environment.
“It’s difficult to catch up on 10 years of under building in housing in a two or three year period but we’re pulling every lever that we can.”
A report from property site Daft.ie this week showed the rate at which house prices are rising has begun to slow down as a result of more properties entering the market.
Meanwhile, the latest figures have led to fresh criticism from activists.
CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless and Dublin City councillor, Anthony Flynn, said: “The minister has made no headway in tackling the crisis and homelessness has considerably worsened throughout his tenure.
“The system is in complete turmoil, the crisis is a direct result of systemic failures from government and the complete lack of social and affordable housing,” he said.
The latest release from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government also comes as it was revealed that a major homeless hostel in Dublin will close shortly.
The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive said it would increase its emergency accommodation capacity in the coming weeks in response.
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Ministers should get regular business-type performance reviews where their performance is gauged against goals and targets and they are rated accordingly. If you’re not performing, you’re out of a job.
@Kem Trayle: we have elections but the same idiots keep getting voted in. Only the people to blame!
@Kem Trayle: The problem is that he’s performing for FG and their private backers in controlling the housing market through scarcity of supply.
The most dangerous thing the public could believe is that Eoghan Murphy is an inept fool out of his depth in the position when in reality it’s all by design, that’s why he was never removed.
@Kem Trayle: if they brought performance into it, they’d all be out of a job.
@Rochelle:
Would those private backers be some of the 75% of households who own their own homes many of whom are delighted to see house prices rising?
I’m alright jack.
@Kem Trayle: Have you ever been given a task to do without any resources and massive restrictions? I have and if I got fired because of an unrealistic goal in a ridiculous time frame it would show my employer was in the wrong. A problem that took years to cause generally will take as long to fix. Dont care for political favourites but anybody in the position will perform about the same.
@Patrick Nolan: Home ownership was 81.8% in 2004 but that has gone down to 69.5% now.Also bear in mind that Ireland’s population estimated to increase by 1.85m over next 30 years&more housing stock will be required!
@Nuala Mc Namara:
No doubt it’s falling but it’s not far off the European average, highest is Romania at 98% lowest Germany at 54,%
@Dave Thomas: yep voter to blame….one for all all for one thats the irish way
@Patrick Nolan: you can get affordable housing in Germany though. And leases are often long term 10, 20 or 30 years
@Patrick Nolan: I’m one of those householders that owns my own home outright. The apparent value is irrelevant to me as (1) I don’t ever expect to sell it. (2) If I did sell, it’s currently rated around €450,000 but the replacement house I would need to buy would be at least the same price or more. That would mean greater Stamp Duty, huge solicitor’s fees, large removal fees, not forgetting the necessary new carpets and curtains etc. If my house was still only worth what I paid for it in 1975 £10,000 then the Stamp Duty and solicitor’s fees would be very much cheaper. The only way I could profit from selling would be if I was emigrating to Australia or Poland etc. where prices and costs are more realistic. I can assure you I will never be moving unless I win a “rollover” Lottery prize and even then I would have to find a very good reason.
@Dave Thomas: Who do you suggest we get to run the island
@Kem Trayle: I agree 100%!
It is shocking that family homelessness is gone up 89.73% since 2016….just 3 years!It’s even more shocking that no sence of URGENCY to adequately tackle it!Why?
It is shocking that child homelessness has gone up by 435.67% since 2014….just 5 years since Government warned about escalating crisis! Despite this scandal and numerous warnings/Reports highlighting effects on children development,mental state,etc,/criticisms from Children’s Ombudsman,EU Commission and UN…..there’s no sence of URGENCY to adequately tackle it.Why?
Why are families and children only allowed stay in emergency accommodation during severe weather events throughout the day,it’s inhumane to expect families and children to walk the streets during day&worse during school holidays!
When Ireland experiences severe weather emergencies,there’s emergency co ordination group and different Departments meetings and plans to adequately tackle the situation.So why not the same sence of URGENCY re families and children experiencing homelessness which can have long term devastating effects?This is a national scandal!
@Nuala Mc Namara: Forgot to say that there were 350 families homeless in 2014,it has escalated to 1700 families now in 2019….a 385.71% increase in just 5 years!
@Kem Trayle: That is one of the advantages of Direct Democracy like they have in Switzerland….useless politicians CAN be thrown out midterm…and is why the political establishment here is very quick to dismiss or denigrate it.
how about a poll asking whether or not the minister should resign?
Minister for housing or Minister for homelessness?
Eoghan Murphy the Minister for Landlords and Developers.
I’m sure that there is a reasonable explanation why the crisis is only getting worse and worse. I’m also sure that if anyone pushes this question they’ll be accused of personal attacks; because it’s already happened.
Please leave Murphy, your not doing a good enough (/adequate) job.
@Artugal:
Well you and I can agree on something, he is incompetent because if he is minister for landlords he is presiding over the mass exit of them from the sector (as confirmed by Threshold)
@Artugal: This Government & this Minister has a visceral hatred of builders & small private landlords. The housing crisis will not improve during their watch.
Here is a solution, buy a house/apartment. Social housing should be reserved only for disabled and old age pensioners. Everyone else should be responsible for their own housing.
@.: How would you define disabled?
Serious question.
@.: why dont you start from the very being, you jumped a few steps on route to your simply soluion of buy a house/apartment
@Logan Shepherd: as someone, who due to their disability is unable to secure employment qualifying them for the mortgage? They could be individually assessed before the offer of the housing.
@.: Ok just there are many different types of disability that prevent people from working. What’s your view on people working for minimum wage?
@Logan Shepherd: There will always be people that work for minimum wage. If people cannot qualify for mortgage due to their low income, councils are offering “The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan”.
@.: Ok .. we’re not on the same page.
@Logan Shepherd: what did I miss?
@.:
1)Actually Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme was originally supposed to be funded by €200m over 3 years span but last year alone the allocation to Councils came to €210m.There were complaints of applicants being approved but told no funds available from certain councils.Government has pledged to look for funds to increase the 3year funding cycle to €600m.Threshold is €55,000 single person-€75,000 couple I think.
2) There are 3 thresholds for social housing,the highest equivalent to €45,000 gross.People/families on low incomes such as this need social housing/real affordable housing.
Last July 2018, Revenue issued Report re individualised gross income,it showed 1.77m individuals with gross income of €30,000& under!
@.: Nothing really. Just my scope would be wider.
@.: It’s about housing supply and affordability childeen, try getting a mortgage on a gig economy or the precarious employment job available to the working class these days. We could and did get our own homes thirty and forty years ago in the same type of job. A spoiled childeen like you needs to be thought a lesson.
@Nuala Mc Namara: the scheme is up and running. I personally know people who are in a process of buying under the scheme as we speak. And yes to affordable, but I’m sorry, I don’t believe that our taxes should be used to prop up people who simply don’t want to work for their housing.
@Jointheclubtoo: I come from working class. I left the home when I was 19, got minimum wage job, rented a room in a shared house, got myself a degree studying over 4 years in the evenings and subsequently got a better job. I’m polar opposite of spoiled child.
@.: I did similar to you and am in a good position. However there are lots of people with intellectual disabilities that will never be able to go to 3rd level education, and will possibly always work for minimum wage.
I believe we have a duty of care to these people. How many years will it take someone on minimum wage to pay back one of these loans?
@.: The 1.77m workers earning €30,000& under in Revenue Data are taxpayers!Plus it was stated in Dail that the income needed to buy what Government class as ‘affordable housing’ is €80,000!
@.: I left home when I was sixteen and worked at everything I could find, nothing special about that hundreds of thousands like me did the same. Point is people can’t all be nerds and the people doing the real work should get paid enough to be able to afford a roof over their heads like we used to.
The world is going backwards thanks to the lunacy of neoliberalism and it would fit a working class person like yourself better to stand up for your own and not be sucking up to the parasite elites.
@Nuala Mc Namara: look up ballymun affordable housing. I guarantee you don’t need to earn 80k combined to qualify..
@Logan Shepherd: many trades people earn more then people who have 3rd level edu. I did say disabled – that includes intellectually disabled. And for a couple on minimum wage it would probably take 30 years, same as everyone else who has mortgage. They might be left with less disposable income, but they will own their home one day.
@.: I didn’t mention O Culann initiative.
@.:Pray tell us where families can buy houses when their income is too low to be eligible for a mortgage.
@.: People with learning disabilities wont qualify as disabled. Some will never be able to learn a trade either.
My opinion is that it’s not as black and white as you are painting it.
I guess we can just agree to disagree on this one.
@Aine O Connor: you can apply for council mortgage and buy in ballymun, Ongar, Ballyfermot and similar estates in Dublin or outside of Dublin
@.: and how do they get a mortgage when even that avenue has been closed down to most couples??
@.: Are you talking about the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme?
According to RTE just over 2 weeks ago there were 3912 applications to that Scheme with 1996 applications recommended for approval.The value of approvals was €373m but original budget for Scheme was €200m over 3years.RTE reported that Minister said loan scheme still open however a week ago in Journal stated ‘Families still in limbo despite Minister’s assurance home loan scheme funding ‘will be honoured’.!
I’d day it’s well above 10k. They could even say 12k, even more. And they want to think the hidden homeless don’t even exist.
@Adrian: Ireland just uses 3/13 Catergories of ETHOS typology to measure homelessness &so excludes 10 Catergories!!
Why does Ireland exclude the vast majority of ETHOS Catergories?
Why no sence of URGENCY to adequately tackle the National emergencies in homelessness and housing, despite at least 4 Reports highlighting devastating effects of homelessness on children including their development,sence of security and well being,etc?This is a major modern day scandal!
Why is there so few affordable housing stock,when there’s a clear need for them?
Why is there so few social housing stock when there’s a clear need for them?
Why more emphasis on HAP when 94% of rental accommodation is above HAP threshold limits and estimated to cost €1B a year from next year compared to increasing once off social housing stock?Plus the majority of families become homeless after losing their private rented accommodation with many families defering presenting to homeless services by temporarily moving in with friends or family in overcrowding conditions!
By not adequately & effectively tackling the homelessness and housing emergencies,these will be worsened by Brexit!
@Nuala Mc Namara: Well said Nuala.
@Nuala Mc Namara: You know that sounded really smart so I looked up ETHOS classification and why we don’t use them all. The answer is quite clear that NO COUNTRY is using them all. It is a theoretical way to calculate the concept of homelessness and not actual fully agreed as valid. We as a country like many others just simply do not record the information to derive all 13 suggested by the model.
We do not have a housing shortage we have an occupancy rate issue. The majority of the suburbs closests to Dublin are under occupied with 1 or 2 people occupying 3-5 bed houses. There is a quick solution but it would be very unpopular. Get older people to downsize. No need to force anyone as it can be done via incentives. Problem is some will just see it as an attack no matter what.
@Craic_a_tower: It’s the EU’s standard method of determining homelessness.
@Craic_a_tower: Ireland is just one of a small minority :ie 8 countries,of European countrie) that just use 3Catergories of ETHOS! Northern Ireland used all 13 Catergories of ETHOS in their Report!
OECD used ETHOS typology in their Report that Taoiseach referred to when stating homelessness was low in Ireland.But that Report was from 2015& showed Ireland just used 3Catergories of ETHOS.
The European Observatory on Homelessness defines and measures homelessness through ETHOS typology!
We do have a housing shortage!From 2011-2016 TOTAL housing stock increased by only 0.4% despite rising population and demand.Very little social housing was built eg 75 social houses built in 2015& Affordable housing scheme was abolished.Theres very little affordable housing stock.
In February this year the EU Commission said Irish housing policy aggravating homelessness!
In June this year Government denied UN claim that housing in Ireland is ‘unaffordable’!
@Dave Doyle: No it isn’t, It is the suggested method which no one country actually follows completely. It is a goal not yet achieved and actually not 100% accepted as valid either. Like saying emission standards are actually followed when they aren’t and they are targets yet to be reached. Name the countries who do all 13
@Nuala Mc Namara: You are so right that is why I keep increasing my rent to my tenants. I have this great deal with government to keep it this way.
@Craic_a_tower: You only looked up ETHOS typology an hour ago!I’ve been researching ETHOS for a few years but you can do your own research,you obviously need to!
@Nuala Mc Namara: 2 of the things include direct provision and prison as been homeless. Do you really think including those figures will make the genuine cases better
@Lisa Mannion: ETHOS typology re homelessness and housing exclusion: Category 5: People in accommodation for immigrants=
5.1: Temporary/reception centres(note they spend years waiting!)
5.2:Migrant workers accommodation.(note:those in direct provision only allowed work permits sine June’18)
Category 6: People due to be released from institutions=
6.1:Penal institutions
6.2Medical institutions
6.3: Children’s institutions/homes
To adequately & effectively tackle homelessness and housing exclusion one has to assess the true scale of the problem!
The word “homeless” implies there are 10,000 people on the streets, whereas the vast majority of this number have accommodations.; council paying rent, etc.
It would be more appropriate to give a figure showing the number of people sleeping rough.
@Paul Flood: the terms use has confused many people. Personally I find it a disingenuous term as it also makes the standard for how people live classed as homelessness. If it was applied back in the 80s it would have equally classified families I knew as being homeless because too many people lived there.
@Paul Flood: so people without a home don’t qualify as homeless in your books? Do we have to apply as homeless, under your system, if you go camping?
Sentence this spoofer to 3 years in shared living …. 4th floor of a 49 unit floor with 3 shared kitchens and see how he likes it ….
Give them tents and a chemical toilet. That should be enough for them. They need to change their mindset.
@Dan:
I can see you been real popular here
@Patrick Nolan: i want to ask why is there no homelessness in small country towns
@Doire: That might be a very good question. My feeling is it’s because of community spirit.
@Doire: an abundance of available cheap rental property I’d imagine. A landlord in small town Kerry with 5 houses to fill is much more open to HAP for a down and out than a landlord in Dublin. The housing crisis is by and large confined to dublin and the surrounds
@Shane Rrrrr: Partly agree but a 3 bed house in an estate in my town goes for €700/mth. Wages are not that high around here which makes that very expensive.
@Logan Shepherd:
The cheapest 3 bed for long term rental in Ireland
€450 pm somewhere in Leitrim
@Patrick Nolan: Must be a popular opinion Patrick when you see FG/FF getting elected time and again.
@Dan:
Ha ha, true.
I think it’s time to stop calling them “homeless” and start calling them “unhoused by the state” or something similar
Quick, time to stick a hard hat on Murphy and wheel him out for photos in front of a pile of cavity blocks……
The figures put out by Murphy on the homeless are pure lies. The actual number of homeless, were the EU’s standard method of determining homelessness applied as it should, would easily treble if not more.
No surprise here..the man at the top dosent have a clue what he’s doing..just makeing situtation worse
@Marianne: What do we want, Free Houses, where do we want them, Next To Mammy!
How many comments belong to those whom vote ffg …We get what we vote. 100 years of ffg..
@Willy: planning for 300 houses homes in dublin objected to by a Sinn Fein and a People before profit councillors only today so your argument doesn’t stand up even the opposition own councillors are objecting. A case of nimbyism would you think houses would be built alot quicker but for objectors like this !
They have to let the vulture funds milk us dry before they do anything meaningful to resolve the crisis. This may take some time.
Maybe they should give this zombie the silver bullet!! He’s not useless, he’s totally without redeeming features. When he and his coalition stop lining the pockets of landlords then they might have the funds to build public housing again. It’s not rocket science, if somebody is homeless, give them a home. Problem solved.
Build them cheap temporary houses. We are a very wealthy country
@munsterman: you know people on here will take exception to that comment..but lets see how they react when local councils place people in next to them in a 300k house that they are paying for .. its never a popular solution but council estates are needed again.. and if the anti social issues arise, then isnt it of their own making !?
“There is no silver bullet”- but there is a silver spoon in your mouth, eh Minister?
A silver bullet would’ve been to start building social housing when their figures (which are wildly underestimated) were at 2/3,000 and rising rather than lining the pockets of hoteliers, b&b owners and landlords. Never too late to do the right thing though.
How is he still in charge? Why are we as a country allowing this to happen? Is it a case of people not caring because they think it doesn’t affect them?
Is it not time to take some sort of drastic action and look at some alternative ideas.
Could a temporary community be built on public land out of shipping containers?
Single people could use a 20ft container while families could use a 40ft or more. A bed, toilet, shower and cooking facilities can all be installed and the evidence is out there.
By building this temporary community we could at least pretend we have a clue what we are doing. We could focus homeless charities, mental health clinics and social workers on site and reach thousands of people who have been affected by this.
I realize that the issue of location and funding is an issue and I’m not for a second pretending that I know all the facts involved. But something urgent needs to be done. Murphy is clearly not doing enough
Question: We have a huge issue with the homeless in Dublin, it’s now over 10 thousand and rising?
Answer: Minister:- We do? that’s terrible… “Meanwhile back a the ranch”
Ah I love the voting electorate in Ireland, climate change and orange man bad.
Him and his silver bullets!!!
A bit of practically would go a long way!@
yawn
Zzzzzzz
Question: We have a huge issue with the homeless in Dublin, it’s now over 10 thousand and rising?
Answer: Minister:- We do? that’s terrible… “Meanwhile back at the ranch”
Ah I love the voting electorate in Ireland, climate change and orange man bad.
He is to interested in looking out for the developers, no social housing just private over priced apartments and houses look at ones in glasnevin over a million.. Here we go again 2008
And the list will keep growing if there is a perspective of free gaf.
When politicians say this I think, they bailed out the bankers and for what???
I also think how many TD’s are landlords, how foreign companies come here and buy up property here and the government pays them a grant to do this and then the government gives them another grant to turn the same buildings into rented appartments.
I also think about how many building developers donate to political parties also as why would they do that???
A public National forum of experts and people at the front line that can meet freely to discuss all viable options and protection measures. Working from the bottom up.
Firstly at basic level ensuring that provisions of food and suitable thermal insulating clothing is available.
All our large food chains operating in Ireland should be legally required not to discard and waste good food/clothing as they do every week but to donate it all as occurs in France. This should then all go to a possibly nearest government homeless depot for immediate distribution.
Well you go off and enjoy your holidays eoghan and leave the homeless crisis in a big mess you should of been sacked along time ago with your pathetic excuses
This guy is USELESS.. get out and let somebody in who will do something
have your say