URGENT ACTION on social housing is needed if the agreed target for ending long-term homelessness is to be achieved by the end of the year, the Government was warned by the charity, Focus Ireland, yesterday.
Its president, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, said that the current lack of accessible housing was threatening to sabotage the achievements made in recent years in tackling the problem of people sleeping rough.
“The shortage of social housing has now reached a critical point, with the latest figures showing that only 900 social and affordable homes were acquired by local authorities in the first six months of last year, compared to 4,500 for the whole of 2008,’’ she added.
Statistics showed that 56,000 households were on social housing lists throughout the State, although the figure could be as high as 100,000. Up to 5,000 people were homeless at any one time in Ireland, she said.
Sr Kennedy said her organisation acknowledged the recent work carried out by the Government, particularly by Minister of State Michael Finneran, to put in place more effective ways of meeting housing needs.
“However, many of these initiatives, such as the Government’s leasing scheme, are currently stalled,’’ she added.
