Over-reliance on an increasingly unaffordable private rental market, and a shortage of new housing units, are key factors contributing to homelessness in Galway, an EU advisory body has been told.
Galway City East councillor, Declan McDonnell, raised these points, when speaking on behalf of the European Alliance Group at a plenary session of the EU Committee of the Regions.
Responding to an address by European Commissioner Nicholas Schmit, he said there were 1,157 homeless people registered in Galway in 2020, of whom 350 were children, with c4,500 families on the waiting list for a local authority house.
He also pointed out that with the lifting of the moratorium on evictions in Ireland —introduced as a Covid measure — there was a 9.5 per cent increase in the number of people in emergency accommodation in Galway in the first three months of 2021. “Winter is already upon us and these numbers are only likely to get worse,” said Cllr McDonnell.
He also raised concerns about the number of Roma people sleeping out. “This migrant population has no access to any welfare services and often find themselves destitute,” he said. “We must remember that behind these statistics there are real people experiencing trauma and distress.”
Cllr McDonnell, a member of the EU Committee of the Regions, has called for continued building of “both transient and permanent housing”, and for there to be a “focus on the human dimension”.
He said: “As policy-makers, we need to do more to forge trust between homeless people and the assistance groups. Collaboration and innovation are key words in the area of homeless service delivery.”
He pointed out that in Galway, City Hall has used emergency powers to support the delivery of 15 modular homes, run by the Peter McVerry Trust, in the city, and that Galway has also “embraced” the national policy of Housing First.
“To date there are 20 tenancies in place,” said Cllr McDonnell. “This cross-departmental approach from the health, housing, addiction, and metal health sector is welcome, and long overdue as a model of interagency cooperation.”
