The Government's three-year homelessness strategy has failed because the number of homeless people in the State is higher now than when the plan was launched, Focus Ireland said today.
According to the group, the latest Government figures show that 5,581 people were homeless in 2002, an increase on the 5,234 of 1999.
Homelessness, an Integrated Strategywas launched by the Government in 2000 and contained co-ordinated three-year action plans to provide additional accommodation, settlement and outreach programmes to assist homeless people return to independent living.
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Focus says rate of homelessness 'a national scandal'The failure of the Government's three-year homelessness strategy has been branded a "national scandal" by Focus Ireland at the launch of its annual report for 2002.
According to the group, the latest Government figures show that 5,581 people were homeless in 2002, an increase on the 5,234 of 1999.
Homelessness, an Integrated Strategywas launched by the Government in 2000 and contained co-ordinated three-year action plans to provide additional accommodation, settlement and outreach programmes to assist homeless people return to independent living.
But at the launch of the Focus annual report today, Mr Declan Jones, chief executive said: "In the final year of the strategy the numbers of people homeless is rising instead of falling as the Government had promised."
Mr Jones added that homeless people were now spending 18 months in emergency B&B accommodation compared with 20 days in 1993.
The annual report noted the number of households on waiting lists had reached a new record high of over 48,000, or 140,000 people.
A lack of Government funding to increase the rates of social housing was identified by Focus Ireland as contributing to the lack of resources.
This view was contested by the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Noel Ahern."It is most unfair and misleading to be coming out talking about policies not working. Yes there are about 5,500 people on a category of homelessness right now.
"But when people talk about that figure they think they are out there sleeping rough. They are not. There are about 100 people sleeping rough. There is 700 to 800 availing of hostel accommodation. And there then there is up to 5000 people who are in B&B and self catering accommodation," he said.
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, life president of the agency, said: "In spite of publicly-proclaimed funding problems, the resources must be made available to deal effectively with this national scandal."
"Social Housing is a critical and urgent necessity since 85 per cent of these households have to live on less than €15,000 a year".
She said a previous Minister for Housing had told her there were no votes in the issue of homelessness. Disagreeing totally with this view - and too polite to name the Minister - she said there were many votes to be garnered in addressing the issue of housing and social justice.
A severe shortfall in the Government's commitment to provide 41,500 local authority housing starts by 2006 under the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) was also criticised.
Halfway through this plan the only 11,000 units have so far been provided, Focus Ireland said.
The organisation called on the Government to fulfill its commitment and urged it to double the local authority housing budget of €695 million.
Minister Ahern contested the view that the Government had failed to honour its promises. "This year about 5,000 new local authority local houses will be built. There will be 1,500 houses built this year by voluntary association. Overall, the needs of about 12, 500 families will get offers of accommodation.
"Yes we gave a four year commitment, and yes it may take us four and a half years. We may be slipping slightly behind what we aimed to do but we are still very far down the road. "
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