Madam, - In his letter of December 30th, the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral questions your recent "hopeful" report on progress in implementing the first three-year action plan on homelessness in Dublin, specifically in relation to new hostels and money spent on services.
The action plan was prepared jointly by voluntary and statutory bodies engaged in planning, funding and delivering services to homeless people in Dublin, representing the first unified approach to tackling a persistent problem.
On the issue of money spent, the amount of State funding for voluntary bodies increased from €8 million in 2000 to €24 million in 2003. Total State expenditure on services, by voluntary, statutory and private providers in 2003 was €60 million.
This increased funding has allowed for improvements in all services and the provision of new services, in accordance with the action plan. New services included the provision of 1,000 emergency beds, over 200 of them for single people, most of them targeting rough sleepers, leading to a reduction in their numbers. An independent evaluation of progress in implementing the plan and its impact on homelessness is available, free of charge, from the Homeless Agency.
The Dean asserts that "there will always be homeless people". This view is not shared by the majority of those working on the ground with people who are homeless, and it is their aim to eliminate homelessness in the capital by 2010. Achieving this will require a shift away from the charity model of service delivery - which serves to maintain people in homelessness - towards the provision of high quality professional interventions which are effective, accountable and focused on assisting people out of homelessness and into appropriate housing. - Yours, etc.,
MARY HIGGINS,
Director, Homeless Agency,
Conygham Road,
Dublin 8.