Dublin Simon welcome new mortgage arrears resolution service

Charity said that the initiative was an important step in tackling the ever rising flow into homelessness

Tuesday, October 04, 2016

The Dublin Simon Community have welcomed the Government’s new mortgage arrears resolution service, Abhaile, which was launched by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald T.D., and the Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar T.D.

Mr. McGuinness, stressed the necessity of the initiative and the urgent need to prevent people from entering into homelessness at a time when the numbers of men, women and children who are homeless are at an all time high.

“The most recent figures from the Department of Environment show a 65%* increase in the number of families and 58%* in children accessing emergency accommodation in the Dublin Region alone in the past year.

“Early intervention is absolutely critical to prevent the growing numbers of people becoming homeless. People who never expected to loose their homes are seeing their situation spiral out of control quite rapidly.

“Measures outlined in Abhaile such free financial and legal advice and help, and the allocation of €15m allocated to support the new service will help 35,000 households who are in are in arrears for more than two years, and are living in financial distress with the overwhelming fear of losing their home.”

Mr. McGuinness went on to welcome the cross department and agency partnership of this initiative.

“We are seeing genuine cross department and agency partnerships in order to provide solutions for people who are homeless, identifying and addressing the reality of what people are facing, with a particular emphasis on moving people out of homelessness, prevention measures to keep people in their own homes and ensure supports are in place to help people and families overcome the devastating impact of living without a place to call home.”

Mr. McGuinness continued to say said that keeping people in their homes and working with households at risk was a priority for Dublin Simon Community.

“In 2015, we worked with 416 families across Dublin, Kildare Wicklow and Meath to sustain homes; this was a doubling of the number of families in a year. Our Visiting Tenancy Support service that operates in the Dublin City Council area witnessed a 21% increase in the number people at risk of homelessness, in which 89% of cases were successfully sustained in their home, helping them to avoid the trauma of homelessness.”