A homeless grey area

THERE was uproar last year when Conor Skehan, the head of the Housing Agency, suggested that some families were declaring themselves homeless in order to jump the queue for social housing.

Now we hear from Dublin City Council chief Owen Keegan that some families opt to stay in emergency accommodation in the hope of obtaining a permanent council or social house – even when alternative arrangements, such as the Housing Assistance Payment, are offered.

This is on top of the thousands of people in emergency accommodation who, by virtue of their nationality, are not legally entitled to emergency accommodation here – but, because we are a tolerant and charitable nation, are given it anyway.

None of this changes the fact of the housing shortage, but it does mean that when discussing the homelessness figures in the future, we should bear in mind that a great many people on the list either should not be there, or don’t need to be.