The Department of Social Protection is part of the homelessness problem "when it is meant to be part of the solution", according to Fr Peter McVerry.
The rent supplement in urban areas was totally inadequate and people were not allowed to use their social welfare payment to top up their rent because they would lose the supplement entirely, he said.
Addressing an Impact union conference on homelessness on the theme “a Roof is a Right”, he said the failure to control rent increases “as happens in other countries, and the failure to provide tenants with a reasonable security of tenure, as happens in other countries, is allowing landlords to unnecessarily evict tenants into homelessness”.
He said street homelessness could be ended in weeks with the provision of Nama properties, facilities and a number of appropriately qualified staff. Sufficient appropriate accommodation could effectively deal with emergency housing issues, he said.
Speaking before the arrival of Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton to address the conference in Dublin, Fr McVerry said he would be asking the Minister to do a number of things to address the crisis.
“In the short term, she needs to increase the rent supplement radically because it’s way, way behind the market rent. I think she has to bring in rent controls that landlords cannot arbitrarily raise the rent by 10, 15 or 20 per cent.”
He noted the Government was not officially in favour of rent controls, but said “I will be asking her [Ms Burton] to do that”. He said further legislation was needed to give tenants more security of tenure “because they’re now being put out at a month’s notice”.
He sharply criticised some of the emergency accommodation that is made available, generally dormitory-style. He said people using the accommodation sleep with their shoes on or under their pillow because otherwise they would not be there in the morning.
He said some people refuse to go to such accommodation, including those who are drug-free. “They are asked to share a room with people who are actively using drugs during the night. Even worse, those who have gone through a difficult, intensive drug rehabilitation programme will be offered emergency accommodation in a room full of drug users.”
Ashley Connolly, assistant general secretary of Impact, highlighted the cut in capital spending on social housing of 70 per cent between 2007 and 2012. She said she worked with the not-for-profit sector, and these services were suffering the effects of six years of cuts.
She called for a reversal of the cuts in rent supplement, and for controls on rent.
Ms Connolly asked: “Can you imagine if the only place you could live is a hotel room for you and your children, with no place to cook or for your children to play?”
She said people were living in public lavatories and in dumpsters. “We need to ask what kind of society we want to live in. Today we’re calling for strategic action, not reaction. Investment was required through the local authorities and the not-for-profit sector.”
