Depaul calls for more detail in Government housing plan

Commitments around housing in the programme for government have been welcomed by Depaul, but they say that more detailed plans are needed to address the “crisis situation” in place at the moment.

Ross O’Connor Kenny, senior services manager at Depaul who represents regions including Cork, told The Echo: “There’s a lot of positive goals in the programme, the intention to build 300,000 homes by the end of 2030, and 12,000 social homes a year, and we particularly welcome the ambition to create 2,000 housing first tenancies.

“It speaks also of a holistic, cross-departmental approach to homelessness prevention, which we welcome — what we’d like to see is a more integrated, collaborative relationship between health and housing to ensure the most marginalised people are supported.

“Wraparound supports from both housing and health are needed when someone is entering into homelessness.

“It’s important for that wraparound support to be available really quickly, and that it continues when someone exits homelessness, that those supports stay in place.”

Positive

He continued: “Overall, we view the programme for government as positive, but there needs to be a mechanism for clear reporting to see that key objectives are met.

“In Depaul, one of our key values is ‘words into actions’ — it’s really key that the incoming government create actions from this programme, it needs to be more than just words.

“Based on the very ambitious plan, we would be expecting 3,000 social homes by the end of Q1 this year, if 12,000 are to be built annually. In reality, that may not be possible, but we would really welcome a detailed plan of how these targets will be met.”

Mr O’Connor Kenny said collaboration between Government departments, key organisations, and NGOs in relevant sectors should be progressed “as a matter of urgency”, saying that there is a wealth of knowledge and expertise within the sector.

Crisis situation

“A significant amount of work needs to be done, because we’re in a crisis situation and we have been for quite a long time — the plan is achievable if all departments link in and the Government is laser-focused on getting it done,” he said.

David Carroll, CEO of Depaul, said: “Depaul recognises the commitment to enact a new International Protection Act to implement the EU Migration and Asylum Pact by June 2026 with a move away from the emergency use of hotels for housing and put in place facilities for those seeking protection on State land.

“However, concrete plans are required to provide long-term housing for those in direct provision who have permission to remain.

“We would say now that it is critically important that the new Government work in collaboration with the key organisations working in homelessness as a matter of urgency. Significant work needs to be done on the development of a five-year plan for homelessness on the back of this draft programme for government.”

The incoming government’s commitment to reinforce the EU’s commitment to end homelessness by 2030 will require renewed energy and effort, which the voluntary sector is fully committed to, he added.