Homeless charity Cork Simon is to mount a series of Pop Up Protests across the city this week to highlight the red tape and bureaucracy people are facing in trying secure accommodation.
According to the charity, the problem of homelessness continues to worsen in the city.
Dermot Kavanagh, Director of Cork Simon, said the Pop Up Protest will consist of 12 life size images of Cork Simon service users bound-up in red tape and holding protest placards highlighting the discrimination, prejudice and red tape that they encounter when trying to secure a home.
“The housing and homeless crisis in Cork continues to escalate. Rough sleeping continues to increase. Our Emergency Shelter is overflowing. People are remaining stuck in homelessness for far too long because they cannot find a place to live. It has to end. People have to be heard.”
Mr Kavanagh said the Pop Up Protest is about urging the Government to cut through the red tape that is “pushing people over the edge and into homelessness, and keeping people stuck in homeless services and emergency shelters for far too long because there’s no way out.
“There’s a severe shortage of housing, yet there are almost 5,000 homes lying idle here in Cork. Rented properties are in such high demand that the average monthly rents in Cork far exceed what people can claim in Rent Allowance or Housing Assistance Payment,” he said.
“Rents in Cork increased 18.2 per cent in the 12 months to June 2016. It’s no coincidence that rough sleeping in Cork increased by 47 per cent and the number of people in Emergency Accommodation in Cork increased by 14 per cent in the same period.”
Mr Kavanagh explained that Cork Simon’s Outreach Team met an average of over eight people a night sleeping rough in the city in June 2015 compared to an average of almost 15 people a night twelve months later.
And he pointed out that the Department of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government Monthly Homelessness Report indicates that there were 215 adults in emergency accommodation in Cork in the last week of June 2016 compared to 189 adults 12 months previously.
“Rough sleeping increased further over the summer with our Outreach Team supporting an average of almost 17 people a night sleeping rough in August- a further increase of 17 per cent since June. People deserve better but if you’re homeless and looking for a home, you have very little hope.
“If you’re in an emergency shelter, depending on rent allowance or Housing Assistance Payment, and searching for a home, the odds are very much stacked against you.
“Our Pop-Up Protest aims to highlight that and urge the Government to cut the red tape as a matter of urgency.”
Mr Kavanagh said that the first Pop Up Protest will take place on Patrick Street at 10.30am on Monday and will continue at various city centre locations throughout the week.
People can support Simon's Cut The Red Tape campaign by visiting cuttheredtape.ie, he said.
