Numbers presenting as ‘newly homeless’ to charity more than doubled last year

The number of people presenting as “newly homeless” at the Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) homelessness and addiction service more than doubled last year when compared with 2021.

In its annual report, published on Thursday, MQI, the largest voluntary addictions service in the State, said that in the second quarter of last year the number of clients presenting to it as newly homeless increased by 178 per cent when compared with the same quarter a year earlier.

“Overall, we have seen a 112 per cent increase this year in those presenting as homeless for the first time,” the report states. These figures, MQI said, illustrated “how soaring prices, limited rental opportunities and insufficient social housing” are making it increasingly difficult for people to move out of homelessness.

“We are operating against a backdrop of a housing and cost-of-living crisis that impacts vulnerable people the most,” it said.

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The charity’s Dublin harm-reduction services, where drug users can access clean injecting equipment and pipes as well as advice on safe drug use, supported 3,808 individuals, accounting for 35,787 interventions last year.

“We know that problematic drug use remains a very serious issue right across the country and is not exclusive to Dublin. In 2022, our regional services provided support to 1,484 unique clients through 15,114 interventions. This is an increase of 11 per cent in unique clients,” said the report.

Across its services there were 97,736 “engagements” with some of the most vulnerable people in society, the report said. The charity noted increases in the number of people aged over 55 years and women accessing its services.

“Most recent data indicated that the number of individuals aged 55-plus using the service in the period January to June 2022 had increased by 23 per cent from the same period in 2019 – to 668 last year,” the report states. “Another significant cohort using the service is women. In the period 2017-2022, there was a 42 per cent increase in women accessing MQI’s services.”

The report did not provide data on the total number of women accessing services, but said 63 women engaged with MQI’s new women-only service, Jane’s Place, which provides a gender-specific, trauma informed space for women in homelessness and addiction.

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Commenting on the report, MQI’s new chief executive, Eddie Mullins, said the figures underlined how urgently a medically supervised injection facility (MSIF), to be opened at the charity’s Riverbank centre, was needed.

“Addiction is a serious and challenging social issue that impacts every community in Ireland,” he said. “The impact of addiction can be all encompassing. Its effects are chronic, traumatic and can catch families unawares. People lose decades of their lives to addiction. Sometimes they lose their life.

“The MSIF is a key element of the national drug strategy and is also a commitment in the programme for government. Notwithstanding the support for the MSIF by successive governments, there have been a few challenges to overcome. However, significant progress was achieved in 2022 in our work to advance the establishment of Ireland’s first facility with planning permission granted in December.”