Imminent elections have the Government bracing for major challenges in terms of immigration and housing, topics voters tightly intertwine. A recent controversy involved Taoiseach Simon Harris’s remarks linking the rise in homelessness with an increase in asylum seekers and individuals seeking international protection.
During a conversation with the Sunday Times, Mr Harris voiced his belief that the surge in homelessness is deeply influenced by the significant numbers looking for asylum and international protection in Ireland. While immigration offers many benefits, it also presents a significant obstacle in this context.
In February 2016, during the previous general election, emergency accommodation was housing 5,811 individuals, including almost 1900 children. July’s recent data from the Housing Department reveals a dramatic growth to 14,429 people, with children constituting almost a third of that figure.
These statistics don’t account for people forced to sleep on other’s couches, the rough sleepers (Dublin reported 128 in April), victims of domestic violence seeking refuge, asylum seekers granted international protection but still lodged in direct provision due to lack of available housing, or homeless male asylum seekers (numbering 2,703 as of the previous Friday).
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman made a point on Monday by stating explicitly that asylum seekers have “no right” to housing support like the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or inclusion in emergency homelessness facilities. His department is responsible for providing their lodging, whether through direct provision centres, tented accommodation centres like Crooksling, or, as is the case with Ukrainian refugees, hotels and privately arranged housing.
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE), responsible for financing homelessness services throughout the capital, consistently highlights that its emergency beds are unavailable to asylum seekers. Such individuals aren’t accounted for in any homelessness data, although they utilise numerous day-time homeless services. Their influence on homelessness figures only comes into play when they’re granted refugee status or permitted to stay, and then have to leave the direct provision system with no accommodation available to them.
From April of the previous year, the Housing Department began releasing data on homeless people’s nationalities. In Dublin, with its notably varied international homeless demographic, the majority were locals until November 2023. During this month, 3,374 homeless adults in the capital were Irish while 3,416 were foreigners, consisting of 1,754 EEA-nationals and 1,662 non-EEA citizens.
The information for July demonstrates that this disparity has grown, with 3,345 homeless adults in Dublin being Irish, compared to 3,853 foreign individuals (1,787 from EEA and 2,066 non-EEA citizens).
At a national level, statistics for July indicate 5,386 (54%) out of the 10,028 adults in emergency accommodation were Irish; 2,228 (22%) were from EEA/UK, and 2,414 (24%) were non-EEA. This isn’t drastically divergent from the situation in July 2023, where out of 9,018 homeless adults, 59% were locals, 22% hailed from EEA/UK and 19% were non-EEA.
None of the people represented in these figures are asylum seekers. However, in July, the DRHE stated that out of the 224 new adult cases of homelessness in Dublin, 67 (29%) came about from “leaving direct provision”. In contrast, in November 2023, out of the 194 newly homeless adults in the capital, 29 (15%) had exited direct provision. Furthermore, in July 2023, only 14 (9%) of the 157 new instances of homelessness were due to people leaving direct provision.
The pace at which asylum applications are being processed has quickened, but as the arrivals of those seeking asylum grow, Mr O’Gorman’s department faces immense strain to provide them with accommodations. This further increases the pressure on those granted refugee status to move out. This pressure is also being felt by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and the Taoiseach, who both face escalating homelessness rates and pressures.