Site sought for homeless shelter

CRISIS Whole families with nowhere to go

A site is being sought for a new homeless shelter for Cavan and Monaghan.

The news comes as Cavan County Council confirmed that 79 people presented as “homeless” to the local authority so far this year, with 18 of those assigned temporary emergency accommodation.

The local authority is now assisting in the search for a suitable site to develop a centre for individuals and local families deemed homeless.

Currently, people presenting as homeless in Cavan and Monaghan rely on temporary stays in local hotels or B&Bs, often full-to-capacity, or at a shelter in Dundalk, Co Louth.

Figures for the three counties show 108 people presented as homeless to councils in the month of August alone - a rise of more than a quarter.

The new regional centre would provide temporary accommodation and seek to deal with a range of “complex” needs often associated with homelessness, 365 days of the year.

Eoin Doyle, Director of Services at Cavan County Council, provided the update this week. Speaking at the monthly meeting of elected members (Monday, October 10), Mr Doyle said, as part of a national review led by the Department of Housing, a need was “recognised” in the Border region, specifically in Cavan and Monaghan.

As a result, the local authorities have been tasked with identifying possible sites for such a dedicated centre.

Mr Doyle made the comments when responding to two separate motions, the first from Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald demanding the government increase income thresholds for people to qualify for social housing; and another from Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly who asked for the application process for housing supports to be simplified.

Ahead of the publication of a review before year end by Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, Cllr McDonald noted how income limits to qualify for housing supports have not changed since 2011. Income limits increased in just five local authority areas - Clare, Carlow, Laois, Galway and Westmeath - and Cllr McDonald said it was “simply not good enough” that Cavan was not included.

“It’s unfair on low wage working families.

People are turning down work so that their income will stay below the threshold.

This is a disincentive to work.”

He further questioned how other counties have been able to navigate processes to access housing more quickly than others, citing the example of Louth which had secured 93 homes by CPO in the past five years while “still so many vacant and derelict properties lie idle” in Cavan.

“Rents in the private sector are so high that working families can’t afford them, whilst at the same time they do not qualify for housing supports. Many people on the social housing list are removed because their income is marginally over the threshold. Frequently people are not even informed that they have been removed and only find out when they enquire about housing.”

Cllr O’Reilly meanwhile claimed that some families are facing the additional burden of excessive documentation to have their application processed to access social housing. Many, she stated, were young women often leaving “difficult” situations in their previous home, with children and at the same time trying to hold down a full-time job.

“I feel very protective of these women, so many with heart breaking stories and I feel utterly powerless to help them. One hundred per cent of the women I’m dealing with are in desperate need of assistance. But they are not meeting the eligibility requirements for any kind of assistance. They are the silent voices we do not hear about. They are the unseen and unheard victims among us. We have three and four generations of people piled into one house and they’re seen as adequately homed. Couch surfing is the new norm. We have the ‘working poor’ living in houses that are way out of their budget and the net is closing in around them.”

Both motions received support from within the chamber.

Fianna Fáil’s Clifford Kelly was critical that another county (Louth) was the lead authority for providing shelter for homeless presentations in Cavan. “It’s not a great situation sending people from one county to another,” he said, and argued that the provision of “affordable housing” was a sustainable solution to the current housing crisis.

Mr Doyle said, in respect of Cllr McDonald’s motion, that the executive also awaits the outcome of the review.

He said it was a “changed landscape” in terms of housing need, and there had been a “significant increase in the complexity of cases, as well as frequency” when it came to homeless presentations.

“Where usually it may have been individual homeless, mainly single men, now it’s whole families.”

They were working with refine other of the over-arching ‘Housing For All’ strategy to better fit with the needs of towns and villages in the county.

“We’re in the midst of a very significant housing constraint at the moment.”

Where the council have attempted to enter the property market, they’ve done so sensitively, so as not to bid against potential private buyers. “If we do, we pull back,” he said, anxious not to gazump others, or inadvertently cause housing values to soar higher still.

Speaking to the Celt after the meeting had ended, Mr Doyle indicated that, previous to this, the “critical mass” required to sustain a dedicated homelesscentre locally wasn’t there. But with rising rents, and a flood of private landlords leaving the market, coupled with a dearth of suitable alternative accommodation for people facing eviction, a crisis has developed.

“It’s recognised,” Mr Doyle said of the need, adding: “There is a search taking place in the Border counties for a suitable site.

“We’re looking at sites in either county. No decision has yet been made. As for timeframes, the precursor is to find a suitable site first, and then identify suitable funding streams.”