Dublin City Council vote to let down homeless people – Byrne

“The Dublin City Council vote to block a proposal to refurbish O’Devaney Gardens has let down homeless people in Dublin”, says Fine Gael Dublin South Central TD, Catherine Byrne.

“I am shocked and disappointed that Dublin City councillors have voted down a proposal to house 64 homeless families in refurbished, temporary accommodation in O’Devaney Gardens.

“This was a good plan; p art of a 20-point Action Plan on Homelessness that came from the Summit on Homelessness convened by Ministers Alan Kelly and Paudie Coffey late last year. The plan included an investment of €4.7 million in refurbishing vacant apartments to a very high standard accommodation suitable for families.

“ I am surprised at the Lord Mayor encouraging a no vote on this given his work in the area of homelessness .

“The plan to refurbish O’Devaney Gardens for this purpose was never meant to be a long term solution but would have taken families out of hotel and other emergency accommodation. Dublin City Council already spends €3 million per year on temporary accommodation in hotels and hostels for homeless families. We have fam ilies with young children currently living in single hotel rooms, which is totally inappropriate. It would be far better to accommodate them in a flat where they have privacy, space and proper modern facilities.

“We all know that the long-term solution is to build, buy and lease more units for social housing and to reform the private rental sector to prevent further homelessness. The Government has a solid plan to make all this happen; through the Construction 2020 Plan, the Social Housing Strategy and the Implementation Plan on Homelessness. A €500 million investment programme in social housing was recently announced for the Dublin area and it will deliver almost 7,000 additional housing units in the next three years.

“However in the meantime we need solutions for families who are in crisis right now and I feel that the Councillors have been very short sighted in voting against the O’Devaney Gardens proposal.”