Economic slowdown threatens to restrict resources for homelessness

IRELAND’S ECONOMIC slowdown may lead to cuts in funding for resources to tackle homelessness, a seminar organised by the Simon Community of Ireland heard yesterday.

Jim Power, the chief economist with Friends First, said the Government’s next budget was likely to be the toughest in 15 years.

Speaking at a seminar in Dublin entitled Homelessness, Citizenship and Social Exclusion, he said the prospect of social problems being tackled in the post-economic boom was poor.

His concerns were echoed by Patrick Burke, chief executive officer of the homeless charity Simon, who warned of increased demand in recent times for emergency accommodation.

According to official figures from 2005, there were 2,399 households classified as homeless. The most recent figures for Dublin city, published in April, recorded 111 people sleeping rough, an increase of seven on comparable figures for November 2007.

Mr Power said that over the past 15 years, the country had become mesmerised by economic prosperity, without looking at the quality of what economic growth has delivered. “My fear is that now, as social problems such as homelessness increase again, the prospect of tackling them is extremely bleak,” he said.

Mr Burke said he was extremely concerned that as the reins were pulled in on public expenditure “resources available to deal with homelessness will be adversely affected”.

“While the majority of Irish people are genuinely appalled at the thoughts or sight of a person sleeping rough, this has not wholly translated into a tangible intolerance of the problem by society,” Mr Burke said. He urged all those who are appalled by homelessness to become more vocal about it.

Jackie Harrison, the chief executive of Philanthropy Ireland, said that though State funding would be under pressure, there was still an opportunity for charities such as Simon to source alternative funding from the private sector.