City chief’s homeless jibe blasted
‘don’t provide beds’ fury as body found in a shelter
CAMPAIGNERS have reacted angrily after Dublin City Council’s chief executive yesterday said the best way to solve the homeless crisis was to not provide beds.
Owen Keegan suggested emergency accommodation is so good some people might stay homeless.
He was speaking before the body of a man was removed from a shelter yesterday.
Mr Keegan said thanks to the investments of the council and the Department of Housing, the crisis is beginning to ease.
He told the Sunday Business Post: “Every year we’ve added 200 to 300 bed spaces, they’re much higherquality spaces, but one of the paradoxical problems with that is people are reluctant to move on.
“This is not questioning people’s motives but Dublin is a major draw for homeless people as there is a very wide range of service provision.
“The best way to solve the homelessness crisis would be to provide no beds.
“Now, I’m not advocating that, but when you do go out of your way to increase accommodation and improve the standards of that accommodation and provide a whole load of support services, then you become naturally, it’s a much more attractive place to be.
“That’s the reality. Supply creates its own demand.”
Mr Keegan’s remarks promoted an angry reaction.
Sinn Fein’s housing spokesman Eoin O Broin said: “Families are not in emergency accommodation because it is ‘attractive’.
“It’s because of a lack of social and affordable homes. The suggestion good emergency accommodation is ‘attractive’ and encourages people into homelessness or makes them reluctant to move on to permanent housing is insulting.”
Anthony Flynn, whose organisation, Inner City Helping Homeless, provides food to people on the streets, said: “The problem is we don’t have adequate wrap-around or support services in place for people accessing emergency accommodation.
“And the fact Mr Keegan has stated people don’t want to move on from homeless services – we have nothing for these people to move on into. We have a lack of affordable housing.
“We’re in the situation now where we have the death of a young man in a unit that provides emergency accommodation on behalf of Dublin City Council.”
Families are not in emergency housing because it is attractive
eoin O BROIN sinn fein housing spokesman
DUBLIN City Council chief Owen Keegan joked people in homeless accommodation are “reluctant to move on”.
This was slammed by activists who called the comments hurtful and disingenious.
The bizarre comments are even more confusing as new figures revealed the number of homeless people is still climbing.
It is far from a joke that this many people are being constantly failed by our leaders.
It must never be forgotten that when Fine Gael came to power in 2011 the number of people in homeless shelters was 3,744 and of these 458 were children.
Last week the official figures revealed the number without a home is approaching 10,000, including 3,755 children.
This not only shows the crisis is out of control, it also proves Fine Gael is the party of homelessness.
In the seven years since Leo Varadkar & co have been in office, the plight of those without a home has not been a priority, indeed Fine Gael policies have actually added to the crisis.
On hearing the appalling figures last week the Taoiseach lamented it was “unbelievably frustrating” as if he did not have to power to address the situation.
The reality is he and his party do not have the will and this ideological opposition to social and affordable housing has blighted the future of thousands of children.