Cllr calling for urgent inspections of country’s emergency accommodation

A CALL for the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to carry out inspections in emergency accommodation across the country, has been made by Cllr Alan Lawes.

Cllr Lawes said that safety in emergency accommodation has been a huge concern for years and inspections should be carried out by HIQA or some other independent inspectorate.

“There are problems in emergency accommodation across the country and these need to be exposed. When HIQA goes into a hospital or nursing home, everyone jumps to attention," he said.

“HIQA inspections ensure standards are maintained.” Cllr Lawes' comments come in the wake of a number of reported violent incidents in emergency accommodation across the country.

He said a recent assault in Navan was just one of many that happen in emergency accommodation in Ireland.

“It's only recently that I reported allegations of sexual harassment of a client by a member of staff in another emergency accommodation facility provided by Meath County Council which is being investigated by Gardai,” he pointed out.

“Safety is a huge contributory factor to so many homeless people choosing to live on the streets as they consider it safer than emergency accommodation.

Cllr Lawes claimed all councils including Meath County Council had failed to ensure the most minimal standards.

“The only solution to this ongoing crises is for an independent inspectorate similar to HIQA to be established to inspect all emergency accommodation nationwide to ensure most importantly safety but also other standards.”

Cllr Lawes said that like every sector of Irish society there are profiteers in the homeless area providing extremely unsafe and of very poor standard of accommodation with sometimes no staff and others with minimal untrained staff.

He said it has been reported that one Dublin hostel has only two staff on duty at a time - one on reception and one cleaner to cater for 200 homeless clients.

“We need all political parties to treat this as an emergency and champion legislation]to establish an independent inspection regime fit for purpose.

“It needs to be resolved as a matter of urgency,” he said.

A spokesperson for Meath County Council said the Mid East Region (Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow local authorities) commenced the implementation of the National Quality Standards Framework (NSFQ) for homeless services in 2019.

The objectives of the standards are to :

• Promote safe and effective service provision to people experiencing homelessness

• Support the objectives of the National Homeless Policy i.e. enabling people to move into and sustain housing with appropriate levels of support

• Establish a consistency in how persons experiencing homelessness are responded to across different regions and models of service delivery.

"Since the NSFQ were developed, a new Homeless Action Plan 2021-2023 for the Mid-East Region was adopted which sets out the overall priorities and objectives for the lifetime of the plan. The NSFQ have been incorporated into the Mid-East Region Homeless Action Plan 2021-2023."

However, she explained that implementation of the NSFQ was significantly hampered due to public health measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that all public health measurers have been lifted, implementation of the NSFQ may be progressed with homeless service providers, within the constraints of increasing demand for services and available resources.

"The Housing Department are in the process of preparing an Expression of Interest for Homeless Accommodation and NSFQ will form part of the process in determining suitable providers.

"Moreover, as part of its ongoing operations, The Council’s Settlement Team regularly visit properties which are used for emergency accommodation and can provide advice to the owner where shortcomings are identified. If complaints are received from a client regarding the accommodation this will be referred to the Settlement Team for appropriate follow up action.

"Furthermore, Meath County Council continues to participate in the Housing First Initiative which is based on placing individuals in housing units with appropriate wrap around supports. To date 20 individuals have been successfully accommodated under Housing First. This service is provided by the Peter McVerry Trust. These services include housing for the most complex and long-term cases of homelessness, as well as wraparound services like mental health and addiction support, education, training, and employment, with the ultimate objective of helping people live independently in their own home and integrate into their respective communities. In addition, 8 tenancies were secured through the support provided by the Homeless HAP Placefinder Service for the period Q1 2022," she concluded.