Homeless crisis needs new approach – Seán Crowe TD

Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has said the soaring homeless crisis demands new approaches and new thinking from Government and said he has never seen the situation so bad.

Deputy Crowe said:

“The amount of people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin has soared by more than 160 per cent in the last year.

“Figures released by the Dublin Simon Community suggest that the numbers of homeless literally forced to sleep rough because there is no accommodation,  rose from 31 per night to 84 this year.

“In the Dublin region alone, homeless charities reckon that over a 1000 new homeless people are sleeping in emergency accommodation.

“Housing demand is at an all time high and rough sleeping is the worst I have ever seen, yet there is no acknowledgement or any real sense that the crisis needs a new approach or solutions.

“Most of the people sleeping rough are concentrated in the inner city, where services are located,  but in parts of my own constituency we have more than our fair share of rough sleepers and so called couch hoppers.

“The Government has the power to prevent more families becoming homeless. They could raise the current inadequate rent supplement to match the real time market rents. They didn’t in the budget and that has led to more people becoming homeless.

“People are effectively being blocked from accessing housing,rents are rising and the weather is getting colder day by day.

“The Department of the Environment has said the Government aims to end homelessness by 2016. No one believes them.

“Budget 2015 investment in social housing will only address a tiny minority of 100,000 plus households on the social housing lists.

“We need a new housing led approach from Government that will create new avenues and greater access to the currently available housing stock. New builds are the long term answer but rent freeze combined with an increase in rent supplement would also improve access. They could akso look at tax incentives or other measures to encourage downsizing and the sale of housing in regions where the availability is most needed.”