The Government needs to raise its spending for the homeless by five per cent in the next budget and invest €2.5 billion in social housing units over the coming year if it is serious about meeting its promise to end long term homelessness by 2010, according to the Simon Communities of Ireland.The organisation's chief executive, Patrick Burke, made the claim at the launch of the charity's pre-budget forecast on homelessness in Dublin yesterday.
Mr Burke said that a five per cent increase in funding for homeless services which it was seeking would relate to €50 million which was allocated to such services through the Department of the Environment last year.
Commenting on suggestions that Budget forecasts predicted tighter budget due to concerns about the economy, Mr Burke said that if spending on homelessness was curbed in the next Budget “the target of ending homelessness by 2010 will collapse."
"If cuts are to be made, please make them elsewhere," he said.
Without a sustained programme of spending in programmes to tackle homelessness, there was "a strong possibility that the numbers who are homeless will increase due to pressures at the lower end of the housing market, both in the rented and home-owner sectors," Mr Burke added.
As a result, Mr Burke said that the Simon Community, which provides services to approximately 3,000 individuals each year, was calling on the Government to focus on three key areas.
They were, he said, measures to end long-term homelessness; the need to fill existing "gaps" in emergency accommodation services; and a significant increase in the supply of social housing.
While arriving at a figure for the number of people who currently slept rough in Dublin was difficult, he said anywhere between 50 and 100 did so.
He also echoed concerns expressed by housing organisation Threshold recently about the impact of rising rent levels on vulnerable users.
Simon says 1,725 households currently live in unfit accommodation, 4,112 households live in overcrowded accommodation and there are 3,375 households which are involuntarily sharing.
However, Mr Burke pointed out that the Government had failed to meet its current target under the National Development Plan to provided 9,000 social housing units a year.
The number of such units delivered over the last two calendar years had been more than 5,000 fewer than the level deemed necessary, he said.
According to official figures, the number of people who are homeless stands at 2,500 nationally.
However, due to the different methods used by local authorities in arriving at this figure, the Simon Communities organisation believes the real number could be double this amount. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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