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David Carroll of Depaul tells Morning Ireland that rising rents, cost-of-living pressures and a mental health crisis are putting increasing strain on people, with 17,500 now in temporary accommodation. He calls for early intervention, expanded Housing First tenancy supports and a concrete budget plan to reduce child homelessness.
David Carroll says rising rents, cost-of-living issues and mental health difficulties are putting people under increasing pressure. Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland programme, the spokesperson explained that in the midst of a severe housing crisis, the charity Depaul had managed to move around 900 people back into the community from temporary accommodation.
He noted that the figures have risen dramatically since 2018-2019 to a situation where there are now 17,500 people living in temporary accommodation across the country. Carroll emphasised that on the back of the publication of a new report on the issue, policymakers and society at large cannot allow those figures to become the new normal.
He called for specific and emergency interventions in order to tackle the issue effectively and ensure that the present situation does not become an accepted baseline for the future. Carroll explained that early intervention would mean working with people within their own communities before they ever enter temporary accommodation in the first place.
He argued that the signals of deteriorating tendencies can be identified on the back of rental issues, antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol difficulties, and that supporting people within community settings is critically important at that stage. The Housing First programme that Depaul now delivers in Dublin was cited by Carroll as a prime example of where that kind of intensive, community-based support can occur.
Under the programme, people with complex needs, including drug and alcohol dependencies, are supported intensively in order to help them support themselves and put down roots in their communities. Carroll confirmed that Depaul will be providing up to 420 tenancy supports for Housing First by the end of 2029, which he described as really good news for the organisation.
He said the forthcoming budget needed to contain a concrete plan on how to exit from the reliance on temporary accommodation as a long-term solution, including setting key targets with regard to the number of children that the country wants to get out of homelessness. The other major issue raised by Carroll concerned mental health, which he described as an emergency and a crisis affecting people in temporary accommodation.
He said there needs to be an increase in the amount of funding going to support people with mental health challenges, both within the community and also within temporary accommodation settings themselves. Carroll's warnings come amid broader reports of the pressures facing households, including a Wicklow woman in Marbella speaking about her experiences of making friends seasonally, a tale of two Shannons highlighting the strain on rural communities where housing estate after housing estate sees lights go out at 9pm, and news that Ikea has cut prices in Ireland in an effort to help customers counter the ongoing cost of living crisis
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