Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Dessie Ellis TD has today said that new figures on homelessness and rough sleeping from the Simon Community give lie to the government’s claims they are committed to ending homelessness by 2016. He made his comments as The Simon Community; a leading charity dealing with homelessness, released figures that show rough sleeping has gone up by 88% in just one year.
Deputy Ellis continued;
“This is another in a spate of recent figures released by housing organisations, which show levels of homelessness at a record high and growing. The last figures released on rough sleep showed just less than half the level of growth these figures show which highlights the alarming rate at which things are getting worse.
The government may have made much of their commitment to the very realisable goal of ending homelessness by 2016 but all of their policies indicate they are not serious about dealing with the problem at all. Homelessness is not going to be solved by organisations like Simon, great as they are. It will be solved a by dedicated government policy which provides necessary services and support as well as the most essential ingredient secure, adequate housing.
This government have slashed the housing budget and cut homelessness services and they intend to do so again in the upcoming budget. To end homelessness we need real investment which would not only tackle this terrible stain on our society but also create jobs and in the long run save money. The cost of homelessness is much greater than the cost of ending it.”
