Ireland is set to see a higher rate of homelessness among older people unless appropriate social housing is scaled up significantly, an Oireachtas committee heard on Tuesday.
Seán Moynihan, chief executive of the charity Alone, which supports older people across a range of areas, said housing was the highest area of need in 2023.
The charity provided 535 interventions to support older people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness last year. Housing issues among older people have been “steadily increasing for [Alone] for 10 years now”, he said.
As well as increases in homelessness, the charity said the number of older people privately renting had increased, while the number of older people in need of local authority housing had also increased.
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Home ownership rates were dropping among older people, and home ownership in retirement was “not a guarantee”, Mr Moynihan added.
The rate of older people living alone in mortgage arrears was also increasing, he said.
“This is against the backdrop of Ireland as one of the most rapidly ageing EU member states, with a pension system based around home ownership, and without the culture of provision of sheltered housing for older people that we see in other jurisdictions.
“This all means we will see more homelessness in older people unless we can decide who will pay the rent when they retire. The population figures indicate that within the next 20 years we will need at least double the current levels of social housing suitable for older people,” Mr Moynihan told the committee.
There was a “hands off” policy approach at national level to housing delivery for older people, he claimed, adding that local authorities were “the only hope” for older people to go to for safety and security of tenure.
At least 25 per cent of social housing being developed should be ring-fenced for older people to prevent homelessness among the group, he said. This stood at about 40,000 homes on 2016 figures.
Cork Simon Community told the joint committee on housing and local government that the issue of homelessness was now “more stark” than it had been in several years.
The organisation was “busier than ever”, with an average of 75 people per night in their emergency accommodation services, compared to 64 the previous year, representing an increase of 17 per cent.
The average stay in 2023 was 51 nights per person, compared to 44 in 2022 (up 16 per cent).
People in long-term homelessness stayed an average of 227 nights, accounting for 56 per cent of bed nights.
Cork Simon Community had 67 long-term homeless people staying at Anderson’s Quay last year, an increase of one-third on the previous year.
“If all the long-term homeless people were housed tomorrow, it would free up 42 beds at Anderson’s Quay every night – more than sufficient to end the need to sleep rough in Cork City,” the committee was told.
The number of people coming to its soup run service also doubled from 19 per night in 2022 to 38 per night in 2023. Rough sleeping in Cork City has also increased markedly, they said, calling for an increased allocation of social housing to those experiencing homelessness, and for dedicated housing and support being available for people leaving residential addiction treatment.
Nationally, the number of people in homeless emergency accommodation has increased from 8,060 in March 2021 to 13,531 currently – an increase of 58 per cent.
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