BETWEEN January 1 and September 30 of this year, Depaul supported 147 families, including 272 children, across its Dublin homeless services.
We have witnessed a continuous, sustained demand for our accommodation and community-based homeless services. As the annual rate of rental inflation reaches 11.7 per cent, Depaul is urging housing-led solutions to address homelessness.
Depaul manages three family homeless services in Dublin. Our Rendu apartments in the north city centre provide 19 self-contained apartments for pregnant women and women with children who are homeless.
Our Ballymun case management team supports families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the area. This team provides in-reach support to the 22 families in the Poppintree rapid build housing units.
Our Migrant Housing Action Team helps homeless migrants to access accommodation and essential supports.
In the past year, Depaul has seen persistently high levels of families and children accessing our homeless services. From Quarter 1 to Quarter 3 of 2016, we supported 16 families in Rendu apartments and helped a further 131 families across our community-based services.
These figures highlight the damaging effect the housing crisis is having on some of the most vulnerable people in our society – the children. Homelessness can be particularly devastating for children, with homeless children at higher risk of mental, physical and behavioural issues that can have life-long consequences.
The impact of homelessness on a child’s sense of self-worth cannot be overstated. At Depaul, it is our mission to not only provide accommodation for homeless families and children but also to help them reach their potential by nurturing their confidence and self-esteem.
We are pleased to see in ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ the commitment to provide 1,500 additional rapid build housing units, as well as enhanced wrap-around supports for homeless families.
However, at the end of the day, a stable place to call home is the ideal foundation for a child’s development. While Depaul works tirelessly to help transition families from homelessness into more permanent accommodation, the housing crisis continues to pose a huge barrier to our ability to do this.
Latest figures from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government show that house completions have increased and are at their highest level since 2010, with 10,507 new dwellings completed in the first nine months of 2016.
While this provides a glimmer of hope, house completions are still falling far short of the 30,000-35,000 homes required annually to meet demand.
With the most recent quarterly Daft.ie report revealing that the annual rate of rental inflation is now 11.7per cent – the highest since they began recording these figures in 2002 – it is clear that demand continues to far outstrip supply in the rental market.
If we do not urgently accelerate the provision of social and affordable housing in Ireland, vulnerable families and children will continue to fall through the cracks.
Kerry Anthony is CEO of Depaul
