Vol. 488 No. 1
I move:
That Dáil Éireann condemns the Government for its failure to put in place a comprehensive policy initiative to address the growing problem of homelessness and to provide a co-ordinated and comprehensive interdepartmental response to this growing crisis as it affects adults and children, with its related problems of crime and drug abuse.
With the agreement of the House, I wish to share time with Deputies Allen and Perry.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I am pleased to have an opportunity to address this important national issue. We are facing a crisis in regard to homelessness which requires an urgent response from the Government. It is regrettable the Government's actions in this area have been lacklustre, to say the least. The Fine Gael Party firmly believes that we must provide adequate resources for this area of public policy when our economy is booming.
Homelessness is on the increase. The agencies who deal with the issue readily admit that, despite the profoundly favourable economic climate we are enjoying, the problem of homelessness has grown to an unprecedented level in recent years. It is contradictory that at a time of exceptional wealth and the most favourable revenue position ever, a persistent group of women and men and, increasingly, children, find their only form of shelter is on a street corner or in a hostel. The issue of homelessness in the context of our Celtic tiger economy should be a source of genuine embarrassment for every member of this society. The increasing number of people without a home is by far the most concrete example that our society has become indifferent to the plight of the poor. As long as we fail to respond to the needs of the homeless in a concerted and planned way, we cannot and should not boast to the world about our economic performance.
The sole intention of the motion is to highlight the Government's disgraceful performance to date in responding to the homelessness crisis. The motion is a political one and we make no apology for that. Governments make political choices about disbursing taxpayers' money. The December budget highlighted the extent of the Government's choices. A Government which makes a political choice to reward investors and speculators, through an immoral reduction in capital gains tax, is not one that can seriously argue it is either concerned or troubled about the problem of homelessness. A Government which had £520 million to disburse on budget day showed clearly, in its choice of redistribution, that those at the very margins of our society are relegated to the bottom of its priorities.
Whatever about the choices that were made in the recent budget, the Taoiseach's decision to select a Progressive Democrat to head up policy on housing for low income people made a mockery of the Government's stated objective to develop "a national strategy to deal with homelessness". The matter before the House is a political one.
On 25 November last, I asked the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy to outline the precise work to date on the development of a national strategy to deal with the issue of homelessness. I discovered an appalling lack of competence from the Government and the Minister of State in charge. Despite the specific commitment in the Government's programme to draw up a national strategy, precious little work has taken place to date. The Minister of State has spent more time poking his nose into the affairs of individual local authority housing programmes without much success. The Government is intent on sitting back while the homelessness problem, in the words of the Simon Community, has never been more acute.
In response to a Dáil question I tabled in November, the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy, admitted that he is not a member of a key Government committee established to deal with social exclusion. How can a Minister of State, whose function is to co-ordinate the Government's response to the issue of homelessness, not be a member of a committee that would ultimately address matters to do with homelessness? If the issue of homelessness is not on the agenda of a committee to deal with social exclusion, what is? Will the Minister of State confirm that the Taoiseach did not invite him to join the committee dealing with social exclusion? The calamity that is the handling of this issue by the Government, and particularly the Minister of State, should be exposed for what it represents, a complete lack of urgency about the increasing problem of homelessness in our society.
It is high time we obtained a realistic and accurate assessment of the nature of this problem. It is a matter of considerable unease that the only national information on homelessness relates to the national housing survey of 1996. Some two years later we still rely on the work of groups such as Simon and Focus Ireland to provide more realistic figures and up to date information about the problem. The difficulty of the latest assessment was highlighted recently by Fine Gael, when our research showed then in excess of 37,000 applicants were currently on local authority housing lists. This figure showed a 30 per cent increase on the official figures released in 1996. Particular problems surrounding the official version of homelessness have not been addressed. The census is taken on one particular night and does not reflect the level of hidden homelessness.
Focus Ireland believes the true level of homelessness is somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 persons. This contrasts sharply with the official figure of 2,501 from the 1996 housing assessment. The Dublin Simon Community soup run recently met 151 homeless people on one night. This compares with a comment made by a senior official in Dublin Corporation who said it recently established that between eight and 15 people were homeless on the streets of Dublin each night. We cannot begin to develop a strategy to deal with this issue when there are such widely differing and incorrect assumptions.
The most worrying feature about Simon's latest information is the dramatic rise in the number of young people on the streets. Nearly half, 46 per cent, of the overall figure were people under 25 years of age and 10 per cent were children under 16 years of age. I do not have to remind the House of the huge dangers that confront children on the streets of our cities. Information contained in the survey indicates that 75 per cent of people have been sleeping rough for more than one year. This highlights the gross inadequacy of the response of health boards, local authorities and the Government to the scale of the problem. We are beginning to see an entire generation of people who, because they cannot find regular accommodation, are left to fend for themselves on our streets. Despite the resources which have been put into this area, it is fair to say that all our efforts to date have not made any difference to the number of homeless people.
The present shortage of affordable accommodation, particularly in urban areas, has a dramatic effect on the scale of the problem. We are all aware of the hype which has surrounded the issue of house prices. While it is correct that we address head on the issue of house prices we must not forget the real victims of the spiralling house market are those who can least afford to purchase a home or rent accommodation.
The Fine Gael survey of local authority housing lists highlighted that those on the margins of society have suffered most from the spiralling house prices and that investors and speculators have a bigger stake in that market than ordinary PAYE taxpayers. We must attempt to resolve the difficulties in the housing market but we must not forget that for over 5,000 people the dream of purchasing a home is unattainable.
The housing need has never been addressed in a coherent way. This point was highlighted in the l995 ESRI report, an analysis of social housing need. Has the Department of the Environment and Local Government carried out any research in the area of housing need? It is unfortunate that we do not have in place a concrete strategy between the public and private housing markets to meet housing need. While there are thousands of people on local authority housing lists, all these people are not regarded as homeless, yet many do not have secure, suitable, affordable or adequate accommodation. It would be entirely wrong to presume the housing and shelter needs of 5,000 people on our streets represent the only aspect of this problem. Any assessment of housing need must take into account the chronic overcrowding, tension and stress that is building up in many estates, particularly in Dublin, but also in other urban areas. Has the Government any appreciation of the housing crisis?
Every person who ends up on the street has a story to tell. These people come from different and difficult backgrounds. It has been mentioned recently that the homeless are the end product of the State's failure to provide preventive child care services, particularly for young people who are unable to cope at home or for whom life is a misery in an uncaring or abusive household. They include men who have become separated from their families and a large section comprises people who have addiction problems, particularly in relation to drugs or alcohol. For many the street is the only form of accommodation after being barred from a city hostel or shelter.
Let us be clear about the State's responsibility in relation to this matter. It is essential that a radical plan to reduce local authority housing lists be put in place. The time is long since past when above average increases in the number of homes are provided annually. A massive plan for local authority house building is required when we as a society have the resources to make such a difference.
There is a need to provide accommodation for people where rents can be organised through housing co-operatives or voluntary agencies. There is a need also to provide a comprehensive counselling service for homeless people. Those on our streets require one-to-one counselling. Above all what is required is a sustained level of investment in the amount of resources provided to local authorities, health boards and other agencies. This point was made forcefully by Fr. Peter McVerry, when speaking about the frustration felt in relation to the Eastern Health Board, who said: "If they would just come out and tell the truth, which is that they do not have enough money from the Government to deal with this problem, I could respect that at least". The emergency accommodation and the city hostels are bulging at the seams. The problem of homelessness will continue to grow unless the Government decides once and for all to fund all the related agencies who must respond to this crisis. The number of homeless here represents the shameful truth behind our economy. No society can call itself civilised if it accepts that a persistent section of its population has no shelter or accommodation.
There is a major social contradiction here when at a time of economic boom we have a growing problem of homelessness. At a time when the Celtic tiger is roaring many of our sons and daughters are neglected and forgotten. Local authority figures nationwide — I would be more familiar with the figures for the Cork area — indicate that nearly 3,000 people are on the housing list and hundreds are in substandard accommodation. Given the boasts of the Government it is a shame the Celtic tiger has passed these people by.
Homelessness is a growing problem among young people. Homelessness, crime and drug taking are intertwined. Heroin abuse is by far the most pressing aspect of the drugs problem. Primarily it is a Dublin problem confined mainly to areas of economic and social disadvantage, but the use of soft drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy is a countrywide problem. These drugs are available in every town and village, despite some recent successes by the Garda who seized approximately £1 million worth of ecstasy tablets in my county. Heroin abuse is the biggest challenge facing the Government, the statutory authorities and communities. If we are to deal successfully with this challenge there is a need for effective co-operation and co-ordination between the statutory and other agencies in developing and implementing an anti-drugs programme.
Local communities need to be involved in the drafting and implementation of measures. The rainbow Government set aside additional funding of £14 million to implement steps to deal with the major problem. A sum of £10 million was set aside for the implementation of anti-drug strategies to be implemented by local drug task forces in the worst affected areas. Some £1 million was provided to health boards to develop anti-drug strategies and £3 million for estate improvement programmes, a fund which would help local authorities to tackle environmental and other issues in badly run down housing estates and flats complexes in our cities and towns.
The local drug task forces set up in 12 areas of Dublin and one in the north side of Cork City were intended to provide a locally based response by the statutory, voluntary and community sectors to the drugs problem. Other steps decided as a result of the Government initiative were the development of information and research projects, treatment units for young drug misusers, funding to deal with waiting lists in the Eastern Health Board area, mobile clinics, telephone help lines and the rehabilitation of young drug addicts. That rehabilitation programme was planned to be carried out in conjunction with FÁS. A comprehensive prevention programme was to be set up in all schools. It was intended to include an effective youthreach programme which would identify young people at risk and encourage them into activities attractive to them. More importantly these activities would be accredited in the hope of getting young people back into mainstream education. Steps were taken to put in place a comprehensive policing strategy in the areas worst affected by the drugs scourge
The rainbow Government placed the drug problem at the top of its agenda but in contrast the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat Government is complacent in dealing with this problem. This complacency was reflected in the decision to scrap the £20 million youth development fund, a decision it reversed rapidly by setting up a youth development programme because of extreme anger from the communities affected and Opposition parties.
The training and employment of youth leaders must be a priority issue and an abuse prevention programme must be accelerated in the youth work sector by an immediate dramatic increase in the number of outreach programmes in areas of greatest need.
The role of sport and recreation as the most effective preventative elements in the fight against crime and drugs was recognised in the national plan for sport published in February l997. The delay in placing the Sports Council on a statutory basis has affected the establishment of local sports development fora to co-ordinate local activities and bring clubs and groups together to fight the problems of crime and drugs among young people.
Investment in sports and recreational facilities offering young people positive alternatives must be a priority for the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation. His decision to freeze applications from clubs and community groups has sent the wrong signal. These clubs and groups which are struggling day in, day out to cater for the thousands of young people at risk are concerned that there will be overemphasis on the provision of large scale national facilities involving high costs and that the provision of community facilities which are vitally important to keep young people on the straight and narrow will be neglected.
The provision of facilities alone will not ensure the participation of young people in activities. It was planned to give the development of sports and leisure facilities a major impetus by appointing sports and leisure officers, especially in areas of deprivation and greatest need where young people are demoralised, demotivated and reluctant to get involved in team activities. These officers would ensure the maximum utilisation of facilities by acting as facilitators for schools, youth organisations and sports clubs and directing groups involved in youth activities towards the available facilities.
I have witnessed at first hand the downward spiral in the behaviour of many young people. It starts with disillusionment at school followed by absence from it, involvement in petty crime, dabbling in drugs, ejection from home and, ultimately, homelessness and, often, imprisonment. There is an urgent need to break the cycle through the use of the demographic dividend in education and by allowing more schools to benefit under the initiative introduced by the previous Government. Radical intervention at the earliest stage can prevent further trouble. There should be more outreach programmes operated by the excellent national youth organisations. There should be a greater bias towards the development of sports and recreational facilities in deprived communities. There are sufficient resources available to develop facilities at national, regional and local level. Investment at local level acts as a catalyst. I have witnessed the positive effect this has had throughout the country as community groups seek to wean young people away from a life of crime and drugs towards positive activities.
The relevant Ministers should make quick and early decisions on the allocation of the youth development fund moneys. One of the most novel and imaginative projects ever submitted to Government was sanctioned by the previous Government. It involves the development by local soccer and GAA clubs in conjunction with Cork County Board of 100 acres of land on the north western side of Cork city which is being used by drug takers, drug pushers, the homeless and the young people on whom society has turned its back. This project would give them new hope. Unfortunately, between June and Christmas, the moneys earmarked for the project by the previous Government were spent elsewhere. An early decision is essential to allow it to proceed. The four clubs involved are committed to providing £850,000 of the £2.3 million required. The area in question has been described as an unemployment blackspot. I hope the youth development fund moneys will be spent quickly and effectively to get young people at risk off the streets and involved in positive activities.
The Celtic tiger is well named. It is sometimes forgotten that the tiger is a vicious animal which hunts, attacks, maims and wounds the weak. While many people have made a lot of money in the surging economy, many others have been damaged. The number of people who are homeless is frightening. The problem which has reached crisis proportions is not confined to Dublin. It affects men and women, young and old, married and single. Young people, some not even in their teens, walk and sleep on the streets of our cities and towns affected by the ravages of social exclusion. We have to give them hope and honour the commitment that the rising tide will lift all boats. This debate is timely in that it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate clearly that we are concerned about the less well off.
Homelessness is reversible. The first requirement is to place it at the top of the agenda. We must identify the needs of the homeless and develop a strategy as a matter of urgency. We must give voluntary groups the resources they require. There has been much talk about the concept of zero tolerance of crime and traffic congestion in Dublin. The same concept should be applied to homelessness. Let us show that this House cares and will take action. This debate will create an interest and awareness. Various charities have worked tirelessly in caring for the less well off. I compliment in particular the Simon Community in Dublin which has done unbelievable work in providing accommodation for the homeless.
Services for the homeless should be reviewed. The strategy is based on incorrect assumptions by the health board. One has only to walk the streets of Dublin to get a clear indication that the problem is more serious than people realise. Services must be improved and extended if the crisis in the city is to be tackled effectively. All the shelters are full by 9 p.m. Those who have a drink or a drugs problem are not allowed in. These people have to be catered for.
In corporation housing estates there is a high level of dissatisfaction. This is a major source of concern. People have come to me to have essential repairs to doors and windows carried out. At a time when our economy is booming the outlook is bleak for those who are socially excluded and who are paying perhaps £3 or £4 a week for accommodation. Something must be done for them. The report indicates less accommodation is available to a homeless person who wants to resettle than was available 12 months ago. It states that virtually no local authority housing has been offered to the homeless for whom the voluntary services provide. Essentially what is needed is for local authorities and charities to work together to provide accommodation and education for the homeless.
Those who work in shelters do fantastic work, but we must develop that shelter network. Those who are being looked after in shelters should not be in them in a year's time. They should be educated and be moved to other accommodation which would give them some dignity and self-respect. There has been a surge in the economy, our balance of payments is good and while the Lord helps those who help themselves, those who are at the lowest level need as much help as possible. I appeal to the Minister of State to ensure his Department works with other Departments to collectively set up a national forum to deal exclusively with resolving the problem of homelessness.
It is a major problem in Dublin, but it is also a problem in Sligo and other cities. Charities, AA and groups fighting drug abuse, which have been given substantial State funding, do their best, but we must adopt a zero tolerance approach to those living on our streets. While walking towards my accommodation recently I saw a person sleeping in a cardboard box with a hat on the pavement for donations. London is called the cardboard city, but Dublin will soon become one. Given that we are the leading economy in Europe and the Minister for Finance said we are eligible to join EMU, we must work tirelessly to address this problem.
This survey should be published and its findings should be closely studied. There is a good deal of disparity between the number of homeless indicated by health boards and the actual number living on the streets. An independent observation group should undertake a study. I respect the figures given by the Simon Community. They indicate this is a major problem involving children as young as ten or 12 and I appreciate there are many family difficulties. It is extremely difficult to provide accommodation for the homeless, but the Departments concerned must co-operate and establish a fund to address this problem. The number who are homeless is increasing daily. The problem is not confined to the winter months. In winter, shelters are full by 9 o'clock and the numbers in them fall in the summer because many who are homeless sleep on benches in parks.
The Government initiative for the homeless, a Government sponsored taskforce of voluntary and statutory groups who provide a service for those who are homeless, has been advised of the results of this survey. It is important that task force studies the survey closely and prepares a proposal to implement its recommendations. I am sure a good deal of time and money went into preparing this survey. A good deal of effort can be spent publishing reports, many of which are put on shelves without their recommendations being implemented. Reports are fine and well but action is needed. We would all agree that the action needed is an approach that will ensure fewer people are homeless. At a time when our economy is the envy of Europe, we have a responsibility to look after our own. Charity begins at home. Something is drastically wrong when Irish citizens have to sleep on pavements.
I appeal to the Minister of State to address this problem.
One of the interesting findings of the survey is that 10 per cent of under 16 year olds are regularly presenting as homeless on the streets. The EHB has responsibility for attending to their accommodation and care needs. An effective strategy to deliver on that responsibility needs to be urgently devised. Of those surveyed 46 per cent are under 25. They constitute a vulnerable group and their accommodation needs must be urgently addressed. More than 75 per cent of those surveyed have been homeless for more than a year. It might be tolerable for a person to be homeless for a number of weeks, but it is discouraging for a person to be homeless for more than a year and it does not say much for our commitment to address this issue.
It is generally agreed that a successful intervention towards resettlement needs to be made in the initial period after a person becomes homeless and, for a variety of reasons, settlement options are becoming more limited. It is important that as soon as a person is identified as homeless he or she is given the necessary counselling and education. That is particularly important in the case of young people. It is extremely dangerous for young people to be homeless and it may cause them to commit all sorts of crime. I suspect a number of homeless people would look on Mountjoy as an alternative form of accommodation. Many young people may invite crime to get a safe bed in prison.
This survey was carried out in the winter with a view to forming a "cold weather" strategy to deal with this problem. The experience of the Simon Community indicates the number of people on the streets falls in the winter. Given that all hostels and shelters are virtually full at 9 p.m. or earlier during that time, a survey of those who are homeless needs to be undertaken on a yearly basis. People are waiting for hostels to open to get their supper and be given accommodation. This is a major crisis. The number of people who sleep on the footpaths of this capital each night is 151 which is comparable to number of Deputies in Leinster House. We must take action to deal with this problem.
This is not only a problem in Dublin but in many cities on the western seaboard. There has been an upsurge in the population of Galway and other cities. Homelessness is a major city problem. The best way to tackle it is to invite the statutory groups and the partnership groups to co-operate to deal with it. Deputy Allen said a community initiative is required to deal with it. That is where the real response to this problem can be found. We need to fund people to enable them to help themselves. The homeless will accept the opinion of one of their own. We should invite them to help themselves. Economic community initiatives can be effective in having collectively gathered funds spent locally. It is also important to invite the homeless to participate and to treat them with the dignity and respect to which all people are entitled.
The introduction of initiatives in towns and cities will help address this problem. While this is mainly a city problem, it will become a problem in towns in the not too distant future. There has been a growth in the population of our cities and large towns, but the roaring Celtic tiger hurts many people. For them it is only a myth from which they can never aspire to benefit. There is an obligation on us, as elected representatives, to ensure we provide the necessary funds to help these people. Those on the streets, the funding agencies and the Government must work in partnership to ensure the plight of the homeless is made a good deal easier than it is at present. I am delighted to speak on this issue and I appeal to the Minister to do what he can, to urge the publication of this report and ensure it is read by as many people as possible to get the message across that there is a major problem.
I move amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following:
"Dáil Éireann supports the comprehensive framework of measures in place and being developed in response to homelessness whether among adults or children, in particular the continuing action of the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal to secure effective mobilisation and co-ordination of the resources of the statutory and voluntary sectors in tackling adult homelessness, and the initiatives announced recently by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children in regard to alleviating the problem of homelessness among young people."4
I propose to share my time with the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Fahey.
(Carlow-Kilkenny): Is that agreed? Agreed.
The motion raises the question of homelessness as it affects both adults and children. Homelessness is always distressing. A person, whether an adult or child, who becomes homeless experiences deprivation and social exclusion in their most extreme forms. The response to homelessness must be targeted and effective. The situation of homeless adults is met with a range of co-ordinated accommodation and related services which I will outline later. The situation of homeless children requires a more specific response. This is explicitly recognised in the separate legislative provision and ministerial responsibility for child care. In this debate, I will address the issue of homeless adults which comes under my Department. The specific needs of homeless children and young people under the age of 18 will be addressed by my colleague, Deputy Fahey, who has special responsibility for children.
As the exceptional levels of growth continue in our economy, the needs of those on the margins of society are very much at the centre of Government policy. Provision for homelessness has improved greatly over recent years. There is greater co-ordination and co-operation than ever before between all the agencies which deliver services to homeless people. However, more needs to be done. People still become homeless notwithstanding that there has been a consistent and long-standing effort on the part of the statutory and voluntary agencies to respond to the difficulties of homelessness.
Two weeks ago Simon raised legitimate public concerns about homelessness with its assessment of the numbers of people sleeping rough in Dublin. I understand its findings were the result of a week long survey of people availing of its outreach services and do not reflect the numbers of people sleeping rough on a nightly basis which is a much smaller number — less than 20 in any night in the view of Dublin Corporation. Nevertheless, it is worrying that any homeless person should sleep rough in our city. My Department has asked Dublin Corporation for an update on the numbers of people sleeping rough in the capital and I understand this is now being prepared.
The causes of homelessness are complex and require complex responses. Often there are factors which combine to push the vulnerable person or family over the brink into homelessness. Unless there is a safety net of supports available at this critical stage, there is a danger that some vulnerable homeless people will slip into the world of crime and drug abuse. There is some concern about recourse by drug addicts for accommodation to hostels and shelters where their arrival can sometimes introduce an element of disruption and even danger, and make other residents fearful. It is an aspect of homelessness which requires special attention from the agencies and bodies dealing with homelessness and drug abuse.
The responses to homelessness, whether provided by a State agency or a voluntary body, must come into play promptly at the point when people have become homeless. The longer a person is homeless the more difficult it is to break that cycle. The intervention must focus on providing the supports which are needed to make the period of homelessness as short as possible and must involve the combined efforts of the various agencies and bodies in providing a full range of services. No one agency is the sole provider of services to homeless persons nor can this ever be the case. Shelter is a most basic requirement but, alongside shelter, will be the need for other services, such as training, health, psychological and other supports which will be needed to facilitate a homeless person's return to a more normal type of living.
I am satisfied that, as far as accommodation is concerned, there is a good and flexible framework in place to provide a service to homeless people, both directly through local authorities and indirectly through the voluntary bodies. The local authorities' powers to counter homelessness are broad and varied. The most significant development, for many homeless people, especially families, has been the expanded local authority and social housing programme of recent years. The Government has made a commitment to maintain the programme at a high level. Many homeless families have benefited directly through first time lettings in new houses or casual vacancies in existing houses. For 1998, provision has been made for a programme of 3,900 new houses and the capital provision for the programme has been significantly increased.
The various social housing measures also play an important part in meeting housing needs, including those of homeless people. The voluntary housing capital assistance scheme, in particular, is used to provide accommodation of a high standard for homeless people as well as for other categories such as the elderly and the disabled. Since the scheme was introduced about ten years ago, some £37 million has been paid in respect of projects for homeless people. Organisations such as Simon, Focus, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Respond and the Salvation Army have provided some 470 units of accommodation for homeless people under the scheme. Some of these bodies have also provided accommodation for homeless persons under the separate rental subsidy scheme funded by the Department. The range of voluntary housing measures, including the capital assistance and rental subsidy schemes have been comprehensively improved by this Government with the aim of making them as attractive as possible to voluntary bodies providing accommodation for homeless people and other groups.
In addition to the availability of capital funding to provide accommodation, there is need to provide more direct assistance to homeless people and the bodies working on their behalf. Funding is needed to allow voluntary bodies to run their organisations and my Department makes an annual grant to a number of voluntary bodies, including Focus and the Simon Community National Office which work on behalf of homeless persons. Funding is needed to help run hostels and provide emergency accommodation and to support accommodation referral services which are directly availed of by homeless persons. The mechanism used for these purposes is section 10 of the Housing Act, 1988.
Local authorities have extensive powers under the Act to provide assistance to homeless persons and to the bodies working on their behalf, outside the traditional response of local authority housing. This can take the form of funding for emergency bed and breakfast accommodation, funding the provision by voluntary bodies of accommodation and resettlement services for homeless persons and, in the Dublin region, funding the homeless persons and refugee units and the homeless initiative, which I will mention later. In practice, health boards, which provide income support for homeless persons, are often involved in arranging accommodation for homeless persons so that, in many areas, combined arrangements involving the local authorities, health boards and voluntary bodies are in operation.
The powers of local authorities which I have spoken of are extensive in nature and my Department has consistently stressed to authorities that they must use these powers to the fullest extent possible. The use of these powers in a flexible way by authorities has increased over the years. Under the terms of the Act, 90 per cent of expenditure by local authorities on homelessness can be recouped from my Department. As an indication of the extent to which authorities use their powers, the level of recoupment payable by my Department has increased significantly since the first years of operation of the provisions from £7,000 in 1989 to £6 million in 1997. While a proportion of the 1997 funding relates to emergency accommodation for asylum seekers in the Dublin area, the level of increase in the provision for homelessness is still striking. Recoupments by my Department to various local authorities in respect of payments to voluntary bodies are a crucial contribution to their capacity to respond effectively to the accommodation needs of homeless persons.
I turn now to Dublin which has about two thirds of the national homeless population. As the largest urban centre it will naturally have a greater number of homeless persons and may attract vulnerable people from other areas, particularly the surrounding counties, encouraged by hopes of a better life in the city. There are aspects of homelessness in Dublin which are putting pressure on available emergency and hostel accommodation. There is significant pressure on emergency bed and breakfast accommodation and, indeed, on the lower end of the private rented accommodation sector, by the large number of asylum seekers in the Dublin area. These are classified as homeless and are placed in emergency accommodation until they move into rented accommodation.
This development has seriously eroded the otherwise adequate supply of emergency accommodation available for homeless people and has made difficult the move by homeless persons from emergency and hostel accommodation into suitable alternative accommodation. Dublin Corporation and the health board are monitoring this situation very closely to seek to ensure that there is always some form of accommodation available to homeless people who need it and are developing proposals to upgrade services for the homeless and to increase accommodation in the city.
The Dublin local authorities and the Eastern Health Board have special arrangements in place to ensure services are accessible to homeless persons. These include the operation of a drop-in daytime accommodation referral service and a phone-in service at night and at weekends. Dublin Corporation provides transitional and emergency accommodation at its premises at Maple House on the North Circular Road and Marlborough Place and is upgrading its existing hostel at the Model Lodging House. Capital funding for these is being provided by my Department. We know the demand for emergency accommodation increases when the weather disimproves and for this reason Dublin Corporation has put in place a "cold weather strategy" which aims to increase the short-term emergency accommodation available in hostels throughout the city to ensure no one who wants a bed for the night is without one.
In recognition of the scale of homelessness in the Dublin area compared to other regions, the Dublin homeless initiative was established in late 1996 to secure better co-ordination and delivery of services for homeless people in the Eastern Health Board region covering Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. It has a specific role in ensuring the development of responses to enable homeless people to become settled and to move out of the cycle of homelessness. The aim is to develop an effective partnership between all the agencies involved in service provision for homeless people, both statutory and voluntary.
A separate administrative structure has been established jointly between Dublin Corporation and the Eastern Health Board to oversee and co-ordinate the provision of services. There is a management group, comprising senior officials of Dublin Corporation and the Eastern Health Board, and a consultative board, comprising representatives of the housing authorities in the region, the Eastern Health Board and the voluntary bodies in the region which provide services for the homeless. An administrative director has been appointed by the management group to co-ordinate the work of the initiative. The initiative receives its funding from Dublin Corporation, which is recouped by my Department and the Department of Health and Children. Its total expenditure in 1997 was £600,000.
I am satisfied the initiative is making an important contribution to the provision of services for the homeless in the Dublin area by building links and co-operation between the bodies involved, by defining the needs of homeless people and by taking a strategic view of how services should develop. It has given priority to resettlement issues and is developing strategies to encourage homeless people in the direction of more normal living. It is an important element in the array of responses to homelessness.
The concept of partnership is the main strength of the homeless initiative. All local authorities have been asked to develop strong links at local level with the health board and voluntary bodies working in their areas. Co-ordination is already a feature of the services delivered locally to homeless people. Nevertheless, there is scope for enhanced co-operation between the statutory and voluntary sectors in other areas, especially in the major cities, to ensure the needs of homeless people are recognised and tackled in a co-ordinated way. My Department has held discussions with Cork, Limerick and Galway city authorities to review the co-ordination arrangements in place between them and the respective health boards and voluntary bodies in their areas and to consider how these arrangements can be consolidated and extended. I am confident this will bring about improvements in the partnership arrangements for dealing with homelessness outside Dublin.
There is a much greater and more well informed response to homelessness now than ever before. There is often no quick or easy solution. While meeting an immediate need, accommodation will not deal in every case with the overall problem. Other factors, such as unemployment, family breakdown and alcohol or drug addiction are often involved. We are fortunate to have so many voluntary bodies providing and operating accommodation and services for homeless people and dedicated to improving the living conditions of less well off people. The development of the social housing programmes in recent years has increased the importance and significance of the voluntary sector contribution. This should not be taken for granted. It is important adequate and proper support is available to sustain this involvement. This is the basis of the social housing schemes and of the funding, capital and current, available through my Department to sustain the effort to deal with homelessness.
I welcome this opportunity to put on record the Government's response to the problem of homelessness in so far as it impacts on children and young people. My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government with responsibility for housing and urban renewal, has dealt with the problem of homelessness in its wider context. I propose to deal with the issue in so far as my responsibilities as Minister of State at the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science and Justice, Equality and Law Reform are concerned.
Homelessness among young people is a complex issue and like many, if not all, such issues, it does not lend itself to simple solutions. Homelessness among children and young people is not a problem to be seen in isolation but is a symptom of other problems which relate to comparatively recent changes in Irish society. We are experiencing difficulties in responding to the major changes which have taken place over the past 25 years or so. These changes have been largely beneficial but they have also led to a dislocation in our society, with many of the assumptions on how society and the family should operate no longer accepted. In a situation of such rapid change, it is to be expected that problems will emerge and one manifestation of this which impacts on children and young people is the problem of homelessness. Young people have to face a range of challenges today of which my generation was happily oblivious, especially drug and substance abuse. For young people who fall through the safety net, the end result can often be homelessness and social exclusion.
We recognise this problem and understand how it occurred. The challenge facing me and my colleagues in Government lies in responding to the problem and bringing forward compassionate and realistic solutions designed to deal in a meaningful way with the underlying problems and also with the immediate problem as identified in the motion.
First, there is a legislative underpinning to the response. Section 3 of the Child Care Act, 1991 gives health boards the responsibility to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection and to provide child care and family support services. Section 5 of the Act requires health boards to make available suitable accommodation for children who are homeless and who have no accommodation they can reasonably occupy. Section 8 requires health boards to carry out an annual review of the adequacy of the child care services in their areas, and this includes services dealing with homeless young people.
Second, resources are being made available, although I admit not to the extent necessary. From 1993 to the end of 1997 an additional £43.5 million on an annualised basis has been invested in the development of child care and family support services, including services for the young homeless. In 1998, an additional £8 million will be made available under this general heading, together with £5 million under a capital budget. This is a significant level of investment, although it is clear additional funding in this area would be money well spent.
Third, resources are being directed at the areas of greatest need. The problem of homeless and out of home young people is most acute in the Eastern Health Board region, especially in the greater Dublin area where the number of out of home young people has escalated sharply over the last year. On average, 12 young people per night present to the social work service operating outside normal office hours. The Eastern Health Board estimates that in 1997 400 young people presented as being out of home in the region. Approximately 50 per cent of these young people are known to the Eastern Health Board services. A difficulty experienced by the out of hours service is that many young people, who cannot be placed by community care teams during the day because of a shortage of placements, present to the out of hours service at night.
Since taking over my responsibilities in the Department of Health and Children, I have dealt with the problems in the Eastern Health Board as a priority issue and the board has responded with a package of measures which I will summarise briefly. The board is in the process of creating more foster care and residential places in the region. A ten bed emergency residential centre for children under the age of 12 is being set up. This centre will be operational on a 24 hour basis and will provide a workable alternative to social admissions to hospitals.
The board intends opening an additional ten bed emergency residential centre for children over 12 years of age who are out of home. Also up to ten emergency carer families are being brought on stream at present. These will be available to provide emergency care for children during the out of hours period.
The board also operates a day project which offers care, welfare and recreation support to approximately ten young people who are considered to be at risk during daytime. Plans are advancing for a day and night reception centre in Dublin city centre to facilitate homeless young people in accessing Eastern Health Board services. This will replace the current unsatisfactory arrangements whereby young people make contact with the Eastern Health Board out of hours service via Garda stations. The reception centre will provide a base for the day project where meals can be provided as well as recreation, laundry and bathroom facilities. This centre will have a small number of emergency beds available for young people where no other placement is available.
All of these new services will come on stream this year. To support these and other developments, I approved a special allocation of £2 million for the Eastern Health Board. We also have proposals to open additional residential centres in joint ventures involving the private sector and volunteers who have come forward to assist in dealing with the crisis.
Fourth, an integrated range of measures is being developed to prevent problems arising in the first place. These include: early intervention to prevent children at risk from becoming homeless; greater provision of services for families and young people in the community; provision of suitable and varied accommodation; backup services for the young homeless and accommodation and support services for children leaving care.
On my appointment as Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, I identified the problem of homelessness and out of home young people as a priority requiring a concerted and immediate response. I then moved to deliver practical and immediate responses to the problem and I intend to follow through and ensure that everything possible is done to find solutions to this complex and difficult problem which challenges us all. This is one of the most serious and difficult problems facing society.
I listened with interest to the Opposition spokesperson who lambasted the Government for its lack of action. This issue should not become a political football. There was a serious lack of initiative on the part of the previous Government on this issue. There is a major challenge facing us to come to grips with the problem. It will take a massive amount of resources to deal with the numbers of children on the streets who are at risk and have no choice but to go onto the streets because of family difficulties. This is a complex problem which will demand serious resources if it is to be tackled successfully. We should speak with one voice to ensure that the resources, services and structures are provided to get the homeless off the streets of Dublin and into proper accommodation.
I thank the Fine Gael Party for tabling this motion and allowing the issue to be debated. I pay tribute to the voluntary and statutory agencies involved in assisting the homeless. I also welcome the initiatives announced by Deputy Fahey concerning young, homeless people. They are very worthwhile and he will have my full support in bringing them to fruition. I cannot say the same about Deputy Molloy who has responsibility for adult homeless people. I have most experience of this area.
The cost of housing means large numbers of people who previously could afford to buy a house with loans from local authorities, building societies and banks cannot now do so. We should all agree that homelessness is unacceptable. I served in a junior ministerial portfolio dealing with housing and I fully appreciate the urgency to tackle homelessness.
A permanent home is a right not a privilege. However, in our booming economy it is unacceptable that more people than ever are forced to sleep on the streets because housing and even temporary shelter has become inaccessible. The increase in homelessness among young children is particularly alarming. In this regard I welcome the initiatives announced by Deputy Fahey.
The drug dependency rate among young homeless men in particular is also a cause of concern. In our major cities, voluntary organisations working with homeless people find it virtually impossible to provide temporary accommodation to those who seek it. Since this Government took office nine months ago, only four residents from the Simon Community shelter in Dublin have been allocated local authority accommodation by Dublin Corporation. The intention is that such accommodation is temporary and people living there will move to permanent accommodation provided by Dublin Corporation. The small number who have done so is one of the reasons for the bottleneck in temporary accommodation.
This winter, most shelters and hostels have had to turn homeless people away nightly because of lack of accommodation. Temporary accommodation has become permanent for people who are finding both the private and public housing sectors completely inaccessible, creating a bottleneck in the hostels. The cost of homes means that young people are spending long periods in private rented accommodation. There is plenty of evidence that this has given a licence to landlords to jack up rents.
Housing property has become one of the main attractions for speculators and investors. The huge concessions in the budget have given the right of way to let this type of investment flourish. Yesterday, The Irish Times revealed that 50 per cent of housing units in tax incentive developments are owned by property investors. In some areas such as the Customs House Harbour, no less than 90 per cent of the units are held by investors. This type of mass speculation in new housing is blocking out the first time buyer and is allowing investors to set rental rates at levels which are out of the reach of young families and those on low incomes. It is not surprising that people are being forced onto the streets as they cannot find affordable accommodation. Perusing the small advertisements in the Evening Herald I discovered that a one room flat costs between £65 and £100 per week. Most specify the type of clientele sought — the word “professional” pops up on a regular basis.
In the Eastern Health Board region there is an upper ceiling of £45 per week on the type of accommodation which can be rented in order to secure a rent supplement. There is no accommodation on offer for a single person who meets these requirements. The assistance which the health board can give towards a housing deposit also falls far short of what is being requested in the market. I am not certain that this matter is the responsibility of Deputy Molloy but the income limits which applied four years ago for health board rent subsidies are out of date because of the spiralling cost of housing and rented housing. This needs to be urgently tackled. I saw a figure of £60 million quoted for rent subsidies but I am not sure if this was in the Eastern Health Board region or nationally. While this is a very large amount, people, particularly single people, who cannot get a rent subsidy for private sector accommodation have to be given temporary accommodation, for example, in hostels, following which they may end up on the street. This bottleneck may be one of the reasons for the crisis in this area.
At the lower end of the private rented accommodation market people are being forced to pay over the top rents in exchange for slum conditions, leaving them vulnerable to homelessness. If we are to address this crisis in the private rented market we must curb mass investment in housing by speculators. This involves streamlining stamp duty exemptions to first time buyers only and applying a 40 per cent capital gains tax to profits on the sale of houses, regardless of the concessions given in this area by the Minister for Finance in the budget. Deputy McDowell will propose amendments along these lines to the Finance Bill.
In the private rented sector the lack of security of tenure is a major issue. If this sector is to develop — it has been developed everywhere else in Europe — the issue of security of tenure must be addressed. We cannot develop an adequate private rented sector, whether subsidised or otherwise, if a landlord has the right to give one month's notice for no reason to a good tenant. If such a case goes to court the landlord will be granted an order for possession. The law must be amended so that good tenants are given security of tenure. I am not suggesting the law should protect bad tenants. This is one of the main reasons the private rented sector has not been able to develop and people have been forced into occupier-ownership arrangements.
During the lifetime of the previous Government some reforms were achieved in the private rented accommodation sector through regulations which dealt with minimum standards of accommodation and required landlords to register with local authorities and issue rent books. Some tax relief was also afforded to tenants in this sector. However, these provisions have not been enforced by local authorities. I urge the Minister of State with responsibility for housing to take urgent action to ensure local authorities enforce the regulations made in this House by public representatives.
A handful of private landlords are registered under the legislation. When I was a member of a local authority we were required to enforce laws without adequate resources. However, under these regulations the landlord is charged an annual fee which more than covers the cost of registration and an annual inspection. While some landlords have registered under the legislation, many others have not. Landlords who have not registered should not receive State aid by way of a rent subsidy. I am not sure of the exact amount paid in rent subsidy but it is very large. The regulations were put in place to protect tenants and build up an ethos of good tenancy which is also in the interests of the landlord and urgent action must be taken to ensure they are enforced.
The Government must introduce these changes and urgently re-examine the social housing programme in an effort to address the increase in housing and rental costs. There is a limit of £35,000 on the small dwellings loans given by local authorities. However, this amount is only adequate to put a deposit on a house in County Kildare. A few years ago the second-hand council house in which I live in County Kildare was worth £30,000, while today it is worth approximately £90,000. Previously people who were just over the limit for a council house could obtain a loan from the council to buy a similar property. However, they cannot even look at such houses now. In many areas adjacent to Dublin people do not avail of local authority loan schemes as they are no longer adequate. If we want to assist people in buying their own homes there is no point having a loan scheme people cannot use. It may still be possible to buy a house for £30,000 in County Mayo from where I come originally but they are not too plentiful even there. Urgent consideration must be given to the loan schemes to ensure they are of benefit to people.
Arising from this, the waiting lists for public housing have swelled out of all proportion. People who would not previously have been allowed on to a council housing list because they qualified for a loan are now eligible for inclusion on it. The length of time people have to wait for public housing is unacceptable. To fortify this point I will give an example of a case in my area.
There were 200 applications for ten houses which were recently allocated by Kildare County Council. The following categories of persons were unsuccessful in obtaining a house: a married couple with six children who had been two years on the waiting list and were in receipt of a rent allowance; a single mother with three children who was under notice to quit from her subsidised private rented accommodation and who had been six years on the waiting list — she has since been evicted and has had to move in with relatives; and a deserted wife with four children in subsidised rented accommodation who had been served with a court order to quit and who had been five years on the waiting list. This woman, who is in her late fifties, has since received notice from the sheriff of the date of her eviction.
The decision that these extreme cases of need did not merit allocation of a tenancy by Kildare County Council raises a number of questions. Is the situation in County Kildare so bad that even these families cannot be accommodated? Is the method of allocation of tenancies such that the most deserving cases are not given preference? Will the evictions in these cases put even greater pressure on the already over-stretched hostel accommodation in the capital city? When people who are unsuccessful in their housing applications in County Kildare make inquiries about their position they are told hostel accommodation will be found for them in Dublin. I strongly urge the Minister to examine the method of housing allocation in County Kildare where there is no waiting list, no priority listing, no point system and little or no attempt has been made to enforce the law on rent books, minimum standards of accommodation or the registration of private landlords.
Waiting list times are a problem for single people as only limited public and social housing is available for such clientele. While building more houses to fulfil the current demand will go some way towards dealing with this problem, the administration of public housing needs to be addressed. Plans to transfer the administration of rent supplement to housing authorities and to provide a one stop comprehensive housing service must be urgently addressed. The lack of co-ordination between the various agencies which deal with housing is resulting in delays. In particular there is a vital need for a single housing authority in urban centres. Such an authority would co-ordinate planning, building and allocation of housing. At present this work is being carried out by voluntary and statutory bodies. In Dublin this would include divisions within the health boards, the voluntary housing scheme, and the corporation.
In the short term we must deal with the need for emergency accommodation. There is such a demand for short term and emergency accommodation that more and more people are being forced to sleep on the streets each night. The lack of movement on accommodation is causing this crisis in emergency shelters. People are staying in such shelters for sustained periods at the expense of others seeking immediate shelter. An urgent examination of emergency shelter accommodation is necessary and beds must be freed up to cater for the rise in the number becoming homeless.
I am particularly concerned at the increase in child homelessness, an issue addressed by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Fahey. In the period 1996-97 the figures for child homelessness doubled and evidence suggests that the number of homeless children continues to increase at an unprecedented rate. Many of these children are forced to become involved in petty crime and begging to survive owing to the lack of available emergency services.
Drugs are a huge problem among homeless people. It is estimated that up to 40 per cent of drug addicts are homeless. Sleeping rough will only exacerbate their problems in the absence of proper support and care facilities, particularly for addicts with HIV. For many homeless people drug abuse provides an escape from the disillusionment of living on the streets and the lack of progress being made in terms of accommodation provision.
While there are no concrete figures concerning homelessness, we should differentiate between homelessness and sleeping rough. As Minister I sought to ensure that anybody who needed a bed for a night could get it. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Molloy, said today that was the case now. When I was Minister I argued that it was the case then but there has not been an increase in the number of places since I was Minister and there is an acceptance that there is an increase in the numbers requiring accommodation. Various issues, including the refugee influx, have exacerbated the problem, particularly in Dublin city. There is a need, therefore, for additional places. If ten people sleeping rough can be found by the authorities, that is a relatively large number. The Newbridge branch of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul built a shelter for the homeless when only one person was found sleeping rough in the area and the shelter accommodates 14 people. At the end of one week all the places were filled by people who were sleeping rough and who could not previously be found. These are the critical category of people we must attend to, people who have fallen through all the nets.
Accommodation was provided at Grangegorman and managed by soldiers because of the anti-social behaviour of those living there. The people there could not be accommodated in normal hostels as they had psychiatric problems, were alcoholics and drug addicts and were violent towards others. Deputy Albert Reynolds, as Taoiseach, ordered that special accommodation be provided for this type of person as well as for others. I visited the accommodation there which was very rough but the people there would not die of exposure as had happened to two people in Dublin a short time earlier. I want to pay tribute to Deputy Reynolds because that brought home sharply to people the nature of the problem and the difficulties dealing with it. The problem still exists, but Grangegorman, now run by the Salvation Army, has become a nicer place.
Perhaps the Minister in his reply will speak about the small group who are very noticeable because they sleep in the warmest place they can find out of doors, usually the doorways of large stores. Those people are highly visible but constitute a relatively small number.
It is nonsense to count as homeless all those who sleep in hostels. There are people living in the good, permanent accommodation in the upgraded Iveagh Hostel in Dublin for the past 30 years without a break. Counting these as homeless is nonsense. The Minister, his officials and the concerned agencies should come up with a new definition of homelessness. It is exaggerating the problem to describe those with permanent accommodation as homeless. It would be better to have a clear picture of the problem in order that we could more effectively target resources and deal with it.
To adequately respond to the needs of the homeless we must take the bull by the horns and tackle the problem along the lines I have suggested. A proper and full assessment of real homelessness is necessary to establish the exact numbers of homeless, whether they have special needs and are dependent on drugs or alcohol. We must particularly address the growing problem of homelessness among children. I appreciate the indications of movement by Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, in this area and I will support his efforts. I noted his plea for additional resources was guarded, as such pleas by Ministers of State must be. I appreciate the need for additional resources in the area he mentioned as do the agencies with which he is working.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government must clearly identify the extent and causes of the problem. If we do not do so, the end result will be future homelessness and needs for accommodation which did not previously exist. I never remember a time when council houses cost five times the annual industrial worker's salary. I do not know how purchase schemes, which are based on market value, are operating. If they are genuinely based on market value I presume they have collapsed as no tenant of a council house could afford to purchase a house at current market prices.
We must examine the system of loans which is no longer operable. It is out of date and defunct in a large area of the country, including Dublin city, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. Some new system for assisting people to buy their own houses is necessary.
