THE HOMELESS Agency has postponed the planned closure of an emergency shelter in Dublin city centre because it has not been able to source long-term accommodation for homeless residents.
It has also warned non-governmental organisations of a recent upsurge in demand for emergency shelter accommodation in Dublin, which is unlikely to decrease for some time.
In a memo to homeless services staff, the agency says the closure of the Salvation Army hostel Cedar House is being “deferred for a minimum of six months”. The 50-bed hostel in Marlborough Street in Dublin was due to close this week.
This is the second time the Homeless Agency, which is co-ordinating a radical shake-up of homeless services in the capital, has postponed the closure of Cedar House, and effectively confirms that a Government plan to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2010 will not succeed.
The Government’s Pathway to Home strategy aims to eliminate long-term homelessness and rough sleeping by the end of the year. Up to 2,000 people are currently experiencing long-term homelessness in Dublin – meaning they have been without a home for more than six months.
The strategy envisages phasing out 1,000 emergency beds in hostels and bed and breakfasts throughout the greater Dublin area and replacing them with 1,200 long-term tenancies. It would also see a revamp of the delivery of care and outreach services to homeless people facing mental health, drug and alcohol-dependency problems and give local authorities more responsibility for placing homeless people.
Closing Cedar House was one of the first practical steps envisaged in implementing the Pathway to Home strategy. Two other emergency shelters – Charlemont Street and Bolton Street – are also targeted for closure under the plan to enable their occupants to move on to longer-term accommodation such as private flats.
The Homeless Agency memo to partner agencies seen by The Irish Times says it “won’t close any emergency accommodation without first ensuring that there is an appropriate, suitable, alternative accommodation in place”. It says two challenges have caused it to defer the closure – access to housing and an “earlier than usual increase” in demand for emergency homeless accommodation.
The memo says “an increase in the number of non-Irish nationals accessing homeless services” is putting additional pressure on the existing levels of emergency accommodation. It says to ensure there is an adequate number of beds available it is necessary to defer the closure of Cedar House.
It says “aggressive” efforts by housing bodies and local authorities to secure alternative long-term housing by using the Department of Environment’s procurement schemes are encountering “a market non-response”.
“As a consequence of this, there are not sufficient, suitable long-term accommodation options in place at this time,” the memo concludes.
A separate progress report on the Pathway to Home strategy drawn up by the agency says just 305 of the planned 1,000 tenancies sought last year to accommodate people who are in long-term homelessness started on or before December 31st, 2009.
A further 424 housing units were agreed but are “subject to certain administrative matters relating to tenancy agreements and ensuring that the buildings comply with appropriate standards for long-term housing”.
The agency has set a target of agreeing 1,200 tenancies in 2010 to make up the shortfall from 2009. But so far it has been unsuccessful in attracting long-term tenancies from the private sector through a leasing scheme backed by the Government.
In a statement, the Homeless Agency said its challenge is getting access to housing as opposed to Government commitment.
“The funding and schemes are in place from central Government. We are experiencing a non-market response despite huge efforts being made to source properties by the local authorities and approved housing bodies.”