{"id":259579,"date":"2025-12-31T09:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/259579\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T09:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:24:07","slug":"simon-harris-claims-significant-number-in-emergency-accommodation-dont-have-housing-right-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/259579\/","title":{"rendered":"Simon Harris claims \u2018significant number\u2019 in emergency accommodation \u2018don\u2019t have housing right\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u201csignificant number\u201d of people in emergency accommodation for homelessness \u201cdon\u2019t have a housing<\/a> right in Ireland\u201d, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Harris claimed he was \u201cshut down\u201d when he said in November that Ireland\u2019s \u201cmigration numbers are too high\u201d as he doubled down on comments linking immigration to the high rate of homelessness.<\/p>\n

The Fine Gael<\/a> leader said he was not trying to create controversy, and nor was he dismissing the State\u2019s \u201cduty of care\u201d, \u201cbut you have to have a right to housing in Ireland to be housed\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said that an examination of monthly homelessness statistics showed there was a \u201csignificant number … that don\u2019t have a housing right\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people who are in emergency homeless accommodation, or certainly some people who are in emergency homeless accommodation, don\u2019t have a housing right in Ireland,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

His view, however, was challenged by Mary Hayes, chief executive of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive<\/a> (DRHE) which manages homelessness<\/a> services across the four Dublin local authorities.<\/p>\n

Of the claim that people with no housing right were a \u201csignificant\u201d factor, she said: \u201cThat is not my experience. Anyone who presents for and is provided emergency accommodation has a right to housing or establishes that right very quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can\u2019t establish a right to housing they don\u2019t get emergency accommodation and are sent on their way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latest DRHE figures showed more than 12,000 people received emergency shelter in Dublin, including 8,141 adults, and 3,883 children. Of the adults, 5,031 were single with no children.<\/p>\n

\"AmongAmong 89 families who entered homelessness in Dublin in October this year, the largest cohort were Irish \u2013 at 43 per cent. Photograph: Frank Miller\/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cThe main driver of family homelessness continues to be notices of termination from private rental, and the main driver of single homelessness is [refugees or people with leave to remain] leaving direct provision in the preceding eight months,\u201d says the DRHE\u2019s October report.<\/p>\n

The main driver of spiralling homelessness figures is not migrants, say sources within the sector, but ongoing \u201ccrisis in the private rental market\u201d. <\/p>\n

Homeless services are not responsible for providing accommodation to those seeking asylum as this is the responsibility of the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS).<\/p>\n

Those who are recognised as refugees, or have leave to remain, are entitled to apply for housing, and most achieve a right to it. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0More than 66% of homeless people in Ireland are in Dublin, report findsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In the interview, Mr Harris also defended measures<\/a> in the Government\u2019s recently-published housing plan which could see families being prioritised ahead of single people in the queue for social housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t say everything\u2019s a priority,\u201d Mr Harris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m saying we have to prioritise children in the first instance \u2013 children and families who are in long term homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Harris said he was told by unnamed elements in the \u201csystem\u201d that such a policy could \u201ccreate a perverse incentive for somebody to become homeless\u201d with their children in order to secure a home. But he said he didn\u2019t accept this argument, saying: \u201cIt offends every fibre of my being.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of measures in the housing plan have drawn criticism from the Opposition, with Labour\u2019s housing spokesman Conor Sheehan saying \u201csingle adults in homelessness have been virtually ignored\u201d by the Government.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of the 16,766 people, including 5,274 children, in homelessness accommodation in October were in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Among 89 families who entered homelessness in Dublin that month, the largest cohort were Irish \u2013 at 43 per cent (38).<\/p>\n

Of all families which entered homelessness, more than a third had had received notices to quit from private rented accommodation and 12 per cent had experienced relationship breakdown with own parents.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Number of homeless people in Ireland reaches new record high in OctoberOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Of the 137 single adults who entered emergency accommodation in Dublin in October, more than half (71) were Irish; 10 per cent (14) were from the EU\/EEA, 37 per cent (51) were non-EU and one was from the UK. <\/p>\n

The single biggest reason for single people entering homelessness in the capital was \u201cleaving direct provision\u201d \u2013 22 per cent (29 people). Among 29 other reasons for single adults becoming homeless were relationship breakdown, leaving prison and overcrowding.<\/p>\n

Two were individuals \u201cnewly arrived from abroad\u201d \u2013 in the last six months, and one had left the Afghan refugee programme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u201csignificant number\u201d of people in emergency accommodation for homelessness \u201cdon\u2019t have a housing right in Ireland\u201d, T\u00e1naiste…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,133946,18,13,14,553,6,24081,21681,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,44,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-259579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-dublin-region-homeless-executive","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-fine-gael","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-homeless-crisis","17":"tag-housing-demand","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-simon-harris","26":"tag-top-stories","27":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}