Housing

Inadequate housing means c.14,700 households unable to social distance - #MoveTheVulnerableOut

Friday, 27 March 2020

The most pressing piece of health advice, apart from washing your hands, to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the need for social distancing. But for thousands of people living in emergency homeless accommodation, Direct Provision, refuges and Travellers living in cramped conditions, social distancing just isn’t an option. The announcement yesterday of 650 spaces being made available is a welcome step, but doesn’t go nearly far enough. There are over 245,000 vacant properties across Ireland. Property website Daft.ie reported a 13% increase in rental advertisements this month. Now is the time to utilise emergency powers and #MoveTheVulnerableOut.

A new Social Contract

Wednesday, 25 March 2020

As we face into the most difficult and challenging times most of us have ever known, it is important to acknowledge that despite well documented problems and challenges, Ireland is in the privileged position of having public services and social infrastructure to rely on at a time of crisis. In the coming months, when we begin to think of the future beyond the current crisis, we need to consider how we can deliver a social contract to meet our needs in changing times?

National Social Monitor - European Edition, Spring 2020

Monday, 23 March 2020

The European Union faces many challenges in relation to healthcare, cost of housing and financial distress that will be further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is one of the key findings from the National Social Monitor – European Edition. In this Spring 2020 edition of our National Social Monitor, Social Justice Ireland outlines the present situation on a range of policy issues, comparative to the rest of Europe, that impact on people’s wellbeing and looks at what policies can be introduced to support the most vulnerable.

Social Justice Matters: 2020 guide to a fairer Irish society

Thursday, 19 March 2020

Social justice matters. That is why Social Justice Ireland publishes our annual socio-economic review. This book is about charting a course to a fairer Ireland. At the foundation of that is what…

Policy must address precarious housing situations

Wednesday, 18 March 2020

Additional supply of affordable homes is a key part of addressing the housing crisis, but what of those in precarious housing situations? In this article we look at those on the social housing waiting lists and those in mortgage difficulty.

Seven Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Friday, 13 March 2020

Social Justice Ireland believes strongly in the importance of developing a rights-based approach to social, economic, environmental, and cultural policy. Such an approach would go a long way towards addressing the inequality Ireland has been experiencing and should be at the heart of the development model for a just society. We believe that the next Programme for Government should acknowledge and recognise seven economic, social and cultural rights.

Housing First key to addressing Homelessness

Wednesday, 11 March 2020

The latest official data on homelessness showed an increase in presentations to emergency accommodation in January 2020. If Ireland is to hope to eradicate homelessness a more radical approach is required, looking to our peers in Finland as model of how it's done.

A framework for the next Programme for Government

Friday, 6 March 2020

The Government of the 33rd Dáil won’t be able to solve all Ireland's challenges in just five years, but making the right choices can go a long way to delivering a fairer society with a better standard of living for everyone. This is why the next Programme for Government must deliver on five key areas: a vibrant economy, decent services and infrastructure, just taxation, good governance and sustainability.

Affordable Housing, not housing subsidies, needed to addressing Housing Crisis

Wednesday, 4 March 2020

The expansion and contraction of capital spending on housing by central government demonstrates just how volatile this basic necessity for low-income families is, and how responsive to economic shocks.

Data collection and housing-led policy are key to tackling homelessness

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

Following triple-digit rates of increase in child and family homelessness since 2014, a decrease in the number of homeless people accessing emergency accommodation was evident in the months of November and December 2019. A month-on-month decrease in December figures is expected, as Christmas approaches and more emergency beds are made available, however the decrease in November is unusual. Is this a statistical anomaly or is child and family homelessness really decreasing? With the state of data collection on homelessness in Ireland described as “statistical obfuscation if not corruption” in a 2019 report commissioned by the European Commission, it can be hard to tell. There is a need for robust data collection in all policy areas, but particularly those affecting the most vulnerable. In its Policy Brief on Affordable Housing: Better data and policies to fight homelessness in the OECD, the OECD looks at ways to improve data collection, and therefore evidence-based policies, on homeless.