Homeless advised to spend night at garda stations
Focus Ireland has revealed that it advised homeless families on around 180 occasions so far this year to consider spending the night at a garda station.
The figure emerged as the group wrote to members of Dublin City Council, expressing its frustration at the “policy vacuum” over the issue.
Regarding the 180 figure, Focus Ireland director of advocacy Mike Allen said many of those instances occured in the first three months of this year and added: “We then follow up and connect with those families in the morning.”
In the letter to Dublin City Council, Mr Allen wrote that Focus Ireland had verified around 20 cases in which families admitted to staying in garda stations this year.
He said Focus Ireland had adopted the advice policy in the absence of any guidance from the local or national authorities as to what should happen in such extreme circumstances.
“Despite the intervening years, and the periodic moral outrage expressed on the issue, there is still no such guidance from either the relevant national bodies or, indeed, yourselves,” he wrote. “Since 2015, we have asked DCC, the DRHE, Department of Housing, and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to produce formal guidelines about what action and reporting should occur in these extreme circumstances.
“However, no guidelines or reporting mechanisms has been produced by any of the various statutory authorities who are involved."
The letter asks for the support of councillors in establishing a process “which sets out what should happen if there is ever a circumstance when a family cannot be accommodated at night.”
