Council chief Keegan stands by comment that people are choosing to present as homeless

THE head of Dublin City Council has reiterated his comments that homeless services are an “attractive option” for people in the capital, despite a wave of criticism.

Owen Keegan said people are “choosing” to present as homeless to local authorities after a “massive investment” in homeless services.

“That is the reality,” Mr Keegan told Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One.

“Homeless figures are very high... If you make better quality accommodation and better services available people are more likely to access those services.”

Mr Keegan said people are sometimes reluctant to move on from homeless services. “Of the 2,300 single homeless persons who are in emergency accommodation, a proportion of those have a range of very complex problems.

“The reality is that for some of those people, they are not capable of sustaining independent tenancies.

“With families, in some cases do decide to stay in emergency accommodation because they think they have a better prospect of accessing permanent local authority housing.”

But Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said: “Homeless families don’t have a choice. The reality of homelessness is that people no longer have a roof over their heads and present to a local authority in desperation.”