The number of homeless people and people on low incomes using the services of one of the longest established drop-in centres in Dublin's city centre grew by 32 per cent last year.
The 2002 annual report from CentreCare shows the organisation saw an overall 10 per cent increase in numbers using its services compared with 2001.
CentreCare, which was established in 1980 under the auspices of St Mary's Pro-Cathedral and CROSSCARE, offers information, referral and outreach services as well as a drop-in centre to people experiencing social exclusion. "A total of 3,212 contacts were dealt with during the year," the report says.
Some 73 per cent of CentreCare contacts last year were with homeless people compared with 58 per cent in 2001 and 57 per cent in 2000.
The report points to figures from local authorities last year which indicated the number of homeless people across the State had increased from 5,234 in 1999 to 5,581 in 2002.
"These figures would suggest that despite the launch of the Government strategy, 'Homelessness - an Integrated Strategy' in May 2000 and the subsequent development of local homeless action plans by local authorities around the country, the number of homeless people remains constant."
Housing is a growing issue for the charity's clients with the proportion seeking assistance in this regard rising from 21 per cent in 2001 to 33 per cent last year.
The report identifies several issues for homeless people, one of the most pressing being the rent supplement cap introduced by Government at the end of 2002. In the Dublin area, the maximum weekly rent the State will subsidise is €107 for a single person and €277 for a family.
CentreCare says this is adversely affecting mostly single people, that most properties available for €107 a week are sub-standard and that people already in private accommodation are having to leave, following reviews which put their rents above the ceiling. "This policy decision is causing homelessness," the report says.
The main increase CentreCare experienced was in people contacting its drop-in centre at Cathedral Street, where an increase of 32 per cent was seen - from 1,732 in 2001 to 2,289 last year. The majority (75 per cent) were male.
