Independent Councillor from the Malahide area, Jimmy Guerin says the stress of the housing crisis is laying heavily on people’s mental health and last week called for an emergency meeting amongst the local County Councillors, to finally put to bed the housing crisis issues in the North County.
Speaking at the monthly County Council meeting, Cllr Guerin said that there have been three suicides in his constituency recently, ranging in ages from 22-53 years of age. Cllr Guerin has said that the weight of stress and pressure on individuals who are caught up in homelessness, or even at risk of homelessness, is wreaking havoc with their mental health. He went on to say that month after month the County Councillors meet to discuss relevant issues and that housing is always on the agenda. He feels that the time has come to focus on the urgency of this issue and wants a special meeting scheduled to tackle and discuss “nothing more than the housing needs in Fingal.”
The issue of housing was, of course, on many of the councillors’ agendas at this months meeting, with many of them raising the personal issues of their local constituents. It was noted by many that there has been a significant change of trends with the homeless population and that there has been an increase in elderly pensioners and retired people who are either homeless or facing homelessness. Sinn Féin Councillor, Paul Donnelly told of a local man of 75 years of age who has been on the housing list for over 1 year and who has been told it will likely take anywhere from 6-8 years for him to be given a home. This man is currently facing homelessness with no idea of when he will be re-housed. Cllr Donnelly feels this type of new homelessness needs to be looked at as part of the housing strategy.
While speaking with Anti Austerity Alliance Cllr. Matthew Waine, who feels very strongly on the issue of homelessness, he had proposed that a plan needed to be put in place for emergency accommodation, as the figures in this area have risen since January. According to these figures, the number of homeless in the Fingal area has dropped from 204 to 159 but the number of people in emergency accommodation has risen from 150 to 181. This shows that there is a need for a long term strategy around the emergency accommodation situation and that emergency accommodation in itself, is not solving the homelessness issues.
The Local Authority said that the Age Friendly Alliance who are working with a housing sub-committee, will have reports completed next month which will shed more light into the development of age friendly housing in relation to homelessness and our older citizens. It was also stated that the County Council are treating the homeless issues as a top priority and that they are utilising all mechanisms and funding available to them, but that ultimately they are awaiting further plans in this area from the Government.