Dublin Simon CEO Catherine Kenny responds to the latest Homeless Figures for June 2023
June 2023 Homeless Figures Statement
“There were 9,265 people in emergency accommodation in Dublin in June, representing a 1% increase on the previous month and a 23% increase over the past 12 months. These latest figures are deeply confronting.
“While we acknowledge the significant efforts being made to remedy the insufficient supply of housing, including the recent announcement of 4,000 new homes via the Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental investment scheme, the delivery of these homes is going to take quite some time. Meanwhile, there is real trauma and suffering taking place for the 9,265 people behind today’s statistics (65% of whom are spending six months or longer in emergency accommodation), and that is unacceptable.
“Homelessness prevention must occur in tandem with the ongoing delivery of housing supply. Fully resourced tenancy sustainment services to keep people out of homelessness must be mobilised, and there needs to be an urgent review of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to reflect real market rates.
“It is not audacious to suggest that homelessness can be ended in Ireland. Homelessness has been virtually ended in countries like Finland, and Housing First policies have been highly effective in alleviating homelessness in Denmark, France, and Canada.
“Dublin Simon is ending homelessness for people every day and delivering essential services on the frontline of this crisis. Our staff play an integral role in the provision of care to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, but the State does not
provide adequate funding to ensure that they are afforded comparable salaries, benefits, increments or pensions as their public sector counterparts. Organisations such as Dublin Simon will continue to lose staff, experience longer vacancies and struggle to keep their doors open without the funding to bridge this inequitable pay gap. We are calling for a fair and timely resolution to this critical situation.
“The endeavour to end homelessness can seem like a Sisyphean task but we must persevere. Everything that can be done must be done, and Dublin Simon is doing all that we possibly can.”
Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community