Focus Ireland welcomes the opportunity to make a submission for consideration in drafting the new National Housing Plan. On delivering new Housing First targets, Focus Ireland expressed the following concern.
Proposed action: Develop an implementation plan to deliver the challenging Programme for Government commitment to increase Housing First tenancies by 2,000.
Focus Ireland welcomes the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the number of Housing First tenancies by a further 2,000 homes, bringing the total number of Housing First tenancies to over 3,000, but recognises that this is a very demanding target, particularly within the constraints of the current programme.
The Housing and Homelessness Plan must address the challenges to delivering this commitment and set out how they are to be overcome. For the purposes of this submission, we want to draw attention four key issues, but as one of the leading providers of Homeless First services in Ireland we would welcome the opportunity to contribute to a deliver plan on this commitment, as would our colleagues in the Irish Housing First Platform.
- The Programme for Government commitment of an additional 2,000 HF tenancies will not be achievable within the current constraints on second-hand acquisitions, as discussed above. Delivery of the number of scatter-site, one-bedroom apartments to meet this target will require not only increased allocations into AHB and Local Authority stock, but a pro-active acquisition drive, which will require exemption from the secondhand acquisitions cap and an adequate budget.
- The commitment to increase HF tenancies provides an opportunity to broaden the household type that is eligible for Housing First. In particular, providing a HF strand for the relatively small number of families that have a similar level of support needs to the 4Focus Ireland, (2023). Multidisciplinary Team for Homeless Families Feasibility Study 28 current single person in-take would contribute to Programme for Government commitments and outstanding Housing for All commitments. Similarly, developing a strand of HF designed for young people with a similar level of need, would provide a route for mainstreaming the current SHY pilot.
- The Greenwood Evaluation of Housing First services (2022) highlighted the challenge in retaining experienced Housing First support workers, and the crucial role that stable support worker/tenant relationships have in the programme. These staff retention challenges are common across the homeless sector, and indeed in the wider social care sector. However, the fact that these challenges are part of a wider sectoral challenges does not mean they can be ignored in the particular context of Housing First. Recent decisions at the WRC will go some way to dealing with the gap between homeless service care roles and care roles in the state sector, but this agreement provide a basis for developing solutions to the HF staff-retention issue rather than being a solution in itself. Any credible plan to increase HF tenancies to 3,000 tenants must include a considered and funded labour-force development plan.
- The Housing Commission draws attention to the lack of consistent integration of the HSE (both HSE Social integration and the mental health services) in the Housing First programme. The expansion of the Housing First programme as committed to in the Programme for Government must ensure full and consistent integration of essential health services into the Housing First programme.
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May 2025