Vacancy Watch: a big site near Fatima Luas stop
Even as the government casts around for new land to zone for homes, it is unclear when this plot will be built out.
They talked about needing to look afresh at the freephone system, reducing reliance on night-time-only hostel beds, and providing more daytime services.
Some homeless facilities let people register to vote at their addresses, says Anthony Flynn, head of Inner City Helping Homeless. But not all.
Phil Menton was offered jobs as a baker. But he couldn’t take them because of the night-time-only hours of many of the city’s homeless hostels.
The ACCES team, which provides care to homeless people with severe mental illness, stopped taking referrals in July last year. It’s not clear whether it’s started again.
Many homeless people struggle to navigate the baffling bureaucracy that stands between them and adequate shelter. Sometimes, because bureaucrats say they aren’t homeless.
In theory, some people who are homeless are supposed to move from a bed in a hostel to centres during the day. But they’re not open all the time.
Is there a better way to organise the city’s system of homeless hostels so people who want to can stay clear of drugs and alcohol?
“It didn’t take long, no more than a week, before I stopped paying attention to what I ate,” writes Christine O’Donnell.
People who stay in the “hubs” meant for homeless families aren’t tenants, so they don’t have the same protections as people in the private rental sector under the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
Sometimes women are blamed for anti-social behaviour, when actually they were suffering domestic violence, says Niamh White of refuge Aoibhneas.
Many of those who are homeless and seeking mental health services end up waiting in hospital emergency departments. Many leave before being seen.
That idea appears to be based on a misuse of statistics by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy, which was further distorted in the media.