I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this important issue. Those of us who have the good fortune not to be homeless have a stereotyped image of the typical homeless person. When the word "homeless" is mentioned, the image that comes to mind is that of aimless drunks, drug addicts and bag ladies. We tend to think of those people as always having been homeless but that is not the reality. Homelessness can be ruthlessly random. People become homeless for various reasons. A high proportion of the homeless population are people who once lived comfortably with their families in middle class homes with all their attendant comforts.
Contrary to popular misconception, all homeless people do not sleep out on the street. The vast majority stay in hostels, night shelters, sometime bed and breakfast establishments, with friends or in squats all of which are stressful short-term arrangements. Focus Point, the excellent organisation which has done enormous work in this area, stated in its 1994 report that: "in some of these locations only essential living necessities are available; in others, not even basic human needs are being met. None of them are homes".
Focus Point estimates that anything between 3,000 and 5,000 people are homeless at any one time, although precise figures are notoriously difficult to estimate. All the evidence suggests that the number of homeless is increasing, yet in some vital areas services are declining. There are approximately 800 hostel bed places in Dublin city. Between 1988 and 1993 the number of hostel beds decreased by 14 per cent. The 1993 census of hostels showed a 6 per cent increase in hostel usage since 1991. If this trend continues, that is, growing numbers and declining services, the inevitable consequence will be that more and more of the homeless will be forced to sleep rough on the streets. This will inevitably lead to the creation of the cardboard cities which so tarnished the image of Thatcher's Britain and finally laid to rest the theory that a rising tide will of itself lift all boats.
Young people under the age of 18 who become homeless are the responsibility of the Department of Health which provides the resources to health boards which directly provide the appropriate services. The problem of homeless young people was confined almost exclusively to Dublin until recently, but, unfortunately, it has now spread to the provinces. Children have to leave home as a result of some family crisis, violence, sexual or physical abuse. Focus Point stated that "only a specialised hostel with suitable back up and support is appropriate and these are unfortunately very few and far between".
Despite undoubted improvements in recent years the number of places available to cater for the young homeless is totally inadequate to meet this growing problem. Focus Point indicated that "homeless children need an urgent 24-hour child centred response with intensive professional support and guidance". Homeless children are extremely vulnerable to sexual exploitation, addiction to drugs or alcohol or involvement in crime. A short period on the streets can do considerable long-term damage to a homeless child. Focus Point has found that not only are some homeless children remaining homeless for longer, but also that the age profile of the young homeless is falling. Focus Point indicate, and we have no reason to doubt it, that some of the homeless children met by its volunteers on the streets are as young as 11 or 12 years.
We are constitutionally bound to cherish all the children of the nation equally. Therefore, we have a constitutional as well as a moral obligation to provide for the growing army of the homeless. Our readiness in the past often to look the other way challenges our claim to describe ourselves as a Christian society. The homeless are entitled to expect that this nation will do everything in its power to help them recover their dignity and self-respect. If we allow this problem to grow, fester and worsen at a time when the economy is growing faster than at any time in the history of our State, we will have allowed ourselves to become that country where, to paraphrase Goldsmith, wealth accumulates while the quality of life of more and more of our people decays.
