Brandon Scott
Child protection should unquestionably be paramount to any institution or organisation, but the moralising from some of the Government TDs of late rings hollow when you examine the ongoing failures they’ve been presiding over, with some seemingly incapable of finding solutions even after a decade in Government.
The Government parties have suddenly become staunch champions for the rights of the child and protecting their safety as an election looms but this stance is simply incongruous with their performance in protecting children from homelessness and the provision of essential services, particularly over the last number of years.
Out of a total of 14,760 homeless people without a roof over their head in this State, 4,561 are children according to the latest statistics.
Addressing the latest rise in homelessness in the country, up by 384 when compared to last month’s figures and also representing a 15% rise when compared with the statistics from September 2023, Focus Ireland, a charity founded by Sr Stan that provides services for people who are homeless, said that the country’s “extreme” homeless problem demands that future governments make a radical shift in housing policy to decisively tackle it.
CEO of Focus Ireland Pat Dennigan said: “Too often the political debate on housing and homelessness has been characterised by point scoring and finger-pointing, what people want are realistic and deliverable solutions. The future of over 4,000 children trapped in homelessness depends upon the ability of our political parties to rise to this challenge.”
DePaul’s Chief Executive David Carroll, another service at the coalface of combatting homelessness, said that the latest homeless figures indicate that young people are some of the most disadvantaged by the Government’s housing market and called on the Government to change its approach to its housing policy to ensure that people have “a secure, affordable, decent place to call a home”.
Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community said, “The lack of an integrated response by the Government is one of, if not the, key issue with today’s record numbers”. “Since the Dáil was last dissolved in 2020, homelessness has increased by 41%”. She added: “Despite the tireless work of Dublin Simon accommodating over 1,200 men, women and children per night in accommodation, homelessness continues to escalate”.
