COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF HOUSING AND SOCIAL SPC
Thursday, February 18, 2010
HEADED ITEM NO. 3-Homeless
The vision contained in the Homeless Agency’s Action Plan 2007 – 2010 is the ending of long term homelessness and the need to sleep rough in Dublin by the end of 2010. This vision is underpinned by three strategic aims:
- The prevention of homelessness
- The provision of effective services in each of the four Dublin local authority areas
- The provision of sufficient long term housing with appropriate supports as required.
In conjunction with the implementation of the Homeless Strategy, Pathway to Home, from the 1st April 2010 the Homeless Persons Unit which is located in the City Centre and provides an assessment and placement service to the four Dublin Authorities on an agency basis will cease to operate those functions. From that date on all persons presenting as homeless will have to call to the relevant Council and will be assessed and, where necessary, placed in emergency accommodation by the Council. South Dublin County has established a Homeless Unit to specifically address the needs of homeless persons who present from that date.
While it is the intention that all emergency accommodation for homeless persons should be within their own County, it is recognised that this is not possible in the short term and some of the existing emergency accommodation currently in use will continue for some time to allow an orderly withdrawal from it and its replacement in the other Counties. The Council is actively seeking to progress the provision of emergency accommodation in the Tallaght and Clondalkin areas in particular and has identified a number of options which are currently being explored.
In 2007, the Board of the Homeless Agency Partnership adopted a statement of direction for emergency and transitional housing and support services called Pathways to Home, that identified the need to put in place ‘a model of housing and related housing and care services that support and maintain successful tenancies’. It is also the aim to ensure that emergency accommodation is returned to its original intended use of being a short term support for homeless persons and to this end to move all persons residing in such accommodation into mainsteam housing within 6 months.
To enable the achievement of this aim, the DoEHLG has provided two targeted schemes to address the long term housing needs of people progressing from emergency accommodation to independent living. These schemes are known as Support to Live Independently (SLí) and the Homeless RAS initiative. Both of these schemes envisage the procurement of accommodation largely in the private sector on a long term basis. In the case of SLí accommodation, low to medium supports will be provided on a reducing basis for a period through a general support service which the DoEHLG and Homeless Agency are in the process of procuring. The RAS option will accommodate those who have little or no support requirements. Tenants allocated housing under the schemes will be required to pay a rent based on the Council’s Differential Rent Scheme.
The DoEHLG has indicated that the funding of the strategy will come from the proceeds of savings on emergency accommodation which is currently being used as mainstream housing and that it will be of a similar level to what was provided in 2009.
The four Dublin Local Authorities are currently undertaking a review of the particular challenges which exist in relation to persons becoming homeless following eviction on the grounds of anti-social behaviour with a view to the development of a uniform approach on a regional basis.
The Council’s Scheme of Letting Priorities sets out the criteria for eligibility for housing based on homeless priority. It is not envisaged that these criteria will need to be amended at this time. The receipt of applications for housing accommodation significantly increased in 2009 and in line with current practice those applying for housing on the grounds of homelessness are placed on the Homeless Register for priority housing. They are not included on the Housing List as well.
This Council is currently examining a number of options for the provision of Emergency accommodation within the County. Specifically the use of Liscarne House in Clondalkin is being examined at present and other locations are being investigated. A report will be brought to the Council in the near future in this regard.
The Council has already been extremely active in the development of services for homeless persons within its administrative area and the following provides a brief summary of the services developed to date:
Transitional Accommodation
| Location | Client Group | No. of Housing Units | No. of Beds | Service Provider |
| Kilcronan, Clondalkin | Women & families escaping domestic violence | 10 | 38 | Sonas Housing Association |
| Russell Square, Tallaght | Homeless persons with varying needs | 12 | 40 | Sophia Housing Association |
| Russell Square, Tallaght | Women & families escaping domestic violence | 5 | 16 | Sonas Housing Association |
South Dublin County Council provides quarterly funding to each of the service providers towards the management and maintenance costs of these facilities.
Long Term Accommodation
The Council developed a project with Focus Ireland for the provision of 24 single person units at Deerpark, Tallaght allocated primarily to those registered as homeless with the Council and the units have been fully allocated.A further project developed with Peamount Housing Association involved the provision of ten single person units for homeless persons and the units are fully allocated.
Women’s Refuge
A premises has been provided by the Council in Tallaght for use as a women’s refuge with capacity for six families to be accommodated at any one time. The service is managed by Saoirse Housing Association. The refuge is fully operational since December 2006.
Outreach Service
The Council has appointed an Outreach Worker whose work focuses on:
- Interviewing and assessing the needs of applicants for inclusion on the Council’s Homeless Register.
- Families in emergency accommodation
- Long term residents of hostels
- People sleeping rough
Tenancy Sustainment Service
The Council has established a Tenancy Sustainment Service to provide tenancy support for homeless persons being allocated permanent housing and to address the needs of existing tenants within the public, voluntary and private rented housing sectors who may be vulnerable to homelessness.
In 2009, South Dublin County Council directly provided permanent accommodation to 23 homeless applicants with a further 10 being accommodated in the voluntary housing sector. At present, there are 91 applicants on the Council’s Homeless Register. Of those, 50 are in Transitional Housing, 37 are in hostel / B&B emergency accommodation and 4 are accommodated in hospital.
The Council is fully committed to implementation of the Homeless Strategy, will continue to develop the provision of local responses to meet the needs of homeless applicants within the Council’s administrative area and has set up a dedicated team from within existing resources in order to streamline the implementation of the Strategy.