A confidential Government paper warned that rising numbers of people leaving direct provision and wider migration trends were among the most significant factors driving homelessness.
The six-page document – which the Department of Housing only released following an appeal under Freedom of Information laws – said single adults exiting international protection accommodation were now the “main reason” for new presentations for emergency housing in Dublin.
The September 2024 report on “demographic change” in Ireland said non-Irish nationals were “over-represented” in homeless services when compared with their share of the overall population. The paper said pressures on housing were rising due to the number of applicants being granted international protection.
It said this was a particular problem when it came to family reunification, with successful refugees allowed to bring spouses or children to live in Ireland.
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“This has been reported by the local authorities as presenting challenges where family reunification is granted and no accommodation is available, frequently requiring the provision of emergency accommodation,“ the document states.
“As the numbers of people granted international protection increases, there is potential for increased pressures in this area.”
At the time it was written, slightly more than 46 per cent of the more than 10,000 adults in homeless accommodation were not Irish citizens. Of the total, nearly 25 per cent were from non-European Economic Area countries and about 22 per cent were from the UK or elsewhere in Europe.
In Dublin, the proportion of non-Irish adults was higher, at 54 per cent, the paper said.
The department warned that future social housing demand could rise further as thousands of beneficiaries of temporary protection, mainly Ukrainians, approach five years’ residence in the State. It said after that time, they may qualify for social housing if renewal of their permission to remain in Ireland continues.
At that stage, 110,000 people had been granted temporary protection, about 59,000 of whom were in State-supported accommodation.
The paper, which was prepared for the Department of the Taoiseach, said Ireland’s future population growth was “very hard to project”.
It said future housing demand would be highly dependent on how many new people came to Ireland and that county councils would need additional resources. However, it said the benefits to Ireland of migration were clear, including higher labour force participation, especially in essential services such as health and social care.
The paper said continuing growth will need to be matched with more housing, improved homelessness supports and infrastructure.
The department had withheld the document for almost a year, saying it was prepared for the Department of the Taoiseach to help plan national policy and strategy. During an appeal under FOI laws, it told the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) there was “much public discourse around migration” and that release of the draft document “risks creating an incorrect or fragmented perception of the situation and the direction of public policy”.
In its decision, the OIC said they could not see how the release of the document would damage the proper working of government and directed its release.
