The number of rough sleepers in Cork has hit an all time peak, rising by 1,000 per cent since 2011, the launch of the Simon Community annual report in the city heard on Monday.
Last year was the worst year for homelessness in Cork city in recent history, with more 1,300 people seeking out the services of the local branch of the Simon Community.
In 2015, 345 people slept rough on the streets of the city, compared to just 38 people four years earlier.
Director of Cork Simon Community, Dermot Kavanagh, says addressing long-term homelessness is essential.
"2015 was a very tough year. Long-term homeless people account for 12 per cent of all the residents in our shelter, but they account for 51 per cent of all the bed nights."
Rent supplement
Mr Kavanagh welcomed Minister for Housing Simon Coveney's announcement last week on rent supplement and housing assistance payment increases.
“It is a very big step in the right direction. The increases will help take the pressure off people already in private rented housing and struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
“The increases will help prevent more people from becoming homeless and knocking on the door.
“We now need to focus on people sleeping rough and stuck in emergency shelters - people long-term homeless - so that they can access the housing they desperately need to start getting their lives back on track.”
Mr Kavanagh said the most important response to the homeless crisis right now is to increase the supply of housing as quickly as possible.
“People need housing, not emergency accommodation. People must be able to afford to put a roof over their heads rather than facing uncertainty about whether they can afford next month’s rent - or not being able to pay at all.
“We have to get back to a significant build of social housing, we need to put measures in place to bring the vast number of empty private and local authority properties back in to play, and we must prioritise for housing people whose lives have been on hold for too long.”
Housing First
Pointing to some of the successes of 2015, Mr Kavanagh said evidence was crystal clear that housing people as quickly as possible while supporting them - a “Housing First” approach - is the fastest and most effective route out of homelessness.
“We continued to work to a Housing First approach to tackling homelessness here in Cork.
“Of the people we have been able to house quickly and provide visiting support in their homes, 89 per cent remained housed and over two thirds required fewer supports after 12 months.
“Once housed, people have a much better chance of overcoming the issues that pushed them in to homelessness in the first place.”
Meanwhile, Mr Coveney, launching the report, conceded that more rental properties are needed to solve a crisis in accommodation in the city.
“First of all we need to protect people who are in vulnerable positions who are in rental accommodation at the moment to be able to respond to rents that may be increasing. And that is why we increased rent supplement - and secondly, we need to get more accommodation built.”