Asylum-seekers in Cork are facing serious difficulties in obtaining rented accommodation because landlords are reluctant to let to non-nationals receiving rent allowance.
A spokesperson for the housing support agency, Threshold, said the problem was exacerbated by the failure of the Government and Southern Health Board to help asylum-seekers looking for accommodation in the city.
Threshold co-ordinator in Cork, Ms Margaret O'Neill, said landlords were reluctant to fill out paperwork for rent allowance and were often hesitant about renting to asylum-seekers.
"Anyone on rent allowance is going to experience difficulties in renting a flat or house. But asylum-seekers face other setbacks. Their accent on the phone indicates that they are not Irish. Asylum-seekers need help with the practicalities because there are so many barriers for them to overcome." Ms O'Neill said workers at the agency had spent up to 10 hours trying to find a home for individual asylum-seekers on rent allowance, often with little success.
She said asylum-seekers were being severely affected by the housing shortage in the city. The Cork branch of Threshold has been receiving up to 10 calls a day from asylum-seekers seeking homes.
More than 100 non-nationals are looking for private housing in the city.
The increased number of asylum-seekers looking for accommodation can be attributed to an easing of restrictions to enable non-nationals who are ill or pregnant to move from group accommodation to private housing.
Meanwhile, NASC, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre in Cork, says asylum-seekers are faced with problems such as finding their way around the city in their efforts to obtain housing.
"Navigating the city can be difficult. People find it hard to understand how the numbering system works. Some houses have names, others have numbers and names, and so on," said Mr Brendan Hennessy, director of NASC.
Mr Hennessy says a crisis in housing in the city could have been averted if asylum-seekers had been allowed to leave group accommodation after two to three months.
"If people had been allowed to leave group housing after two to three months we wouldn't be experiencing the difficulties we are having now. People are stuck without jobs and accommodation and are often suffering from depression." He said many asylum-seekers were leaving the system because of frustration at not being able to work or having nowhere to live.
A Department of Justice spokesman said Government policy was to provide direct provision housing to asylum seekers. Once an asylum-seeker left group housing their welfare went directly to local health boards. The Southern Health Board declined to comment.