Concerns raised that homeless people from outside the county are being allocated houses in Wexford

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

There are fears that homeless people from outside the county are being allocated homes in new Wexford estates without the necessary supports in place to assist them. One such estate is Ard na Bhile in New Ross which has at least two properties allocated to those using homelessness services.

Furthermore, it has emerged that, under Wexford County Council (WCC) policy, up to 10 pc of all new social houses built in the county must be used as emergency accommodation for those experiencing homelessness.

This came as a surprise to councillors at the April meeting of the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD) where cathaoirleach John Dwyer enquired about a “number of houses and apartments unoccupied” in Ard na Bhile. In response, housing officer Martina Donoghue said her department had received “a query regarding two unoccupied apartments there” but that WCC did not own the apartments in question.

“It’s more than two, there are several properties up there with plastic bags in the windows. No one is living in them,” continued Councillor Dwyer. “Do we have an emergency accommodation unit in that estate which has different tenants in there depending on who needs it?”

“In all the developments now a house is handed over to the homeless unit,” replied Ms Donoghue.

However, Cllr Michael Sheehan believed there was more than just one house allocated for homeless services in this estate.

“Is it 10 pc of all houses in new developments that are earmarked for homeless services?” he asked.

“That was my understanding,” said Ms Donoghue.

With 49 social houses in Ard na Bhile it appears that up to five may currently be used for emergency accommodation. And while none of the councillors had an issue with this, there were concerns about where the tenants were coming from.

“Were any of those houses allocated through authorities other than approved housing bodies (AHB) or WCC?” asked Cllr Sheehan. “Did they come through Dublin?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” said Ms Donohue. “They (the tenants) would have been on our list.”

Yet, when Cllr Sheehan asked what kind of vetting was carried out before tenants were allocated properties, Ms Donoghue replied: “they are vetted before they get to Wexford.”

For Cllr Bridín Murphy the concern was that many of those being allocated houses were not receiving the supports they required to ensure the tenancy was successful.

“We absolutely need to take people out of homelessness,” she said, “but the reasons they are homeless are complex and my concern is we don’t have the supports to keep these people in these tenancies. Putting a roof over someone’s head isn’t a long-term solution.

"I’m not sure we have the resources to deal with people who have mental health issues and addiction problems. And this will lead to problems further down the road and these tenancies failing.”

Meanwhile, the 10pc rule came as a surprise to Cllr John Fleming who asked for clarification as to when it was established.

After the meeting Ms Donoghue provided an answer to that question as she referred councillors to a discussion from a county council meeting held on June 12, 2023. At that meeting, Sinn Féin councillors Tom Forde, Davy Hynes, and Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin submitted a motion which read:

"We ask that this council, across all districts, dedicate one property from all developments, including approved housing bodies, for the specific function of providing ‘own front door’ homes for local individuals or families that are homeless. This would be done in an effort to reduce homelessness in our county, to provide more stable accommodation, to better reintegrate those experiencing homelessness, to mitigate the long-term impacts of homelessness, and to substantially lower the demands on the public purse than the State's current reliance on hotels and B&B’s”.

In response, the councillors were informed by then chief executive Mr Tom Enright, that WCC reserves between “5 and 10pc of social housing allocations for those who have been at risk of and homelessness, including long term homeless through working with approved housing bodies, through the council’s own social housing stock and outside of this, through supporting households to secure private rented accommodation.”