Priest criticises homelessness plans

The Minister for Health's decision to appoint a director for youth homelessness has been criticised by Father Peter McVerry, the priest who highlighted the case of the homeless 16-year-old rape victim. In a letter in today's Irish Times, the Jesuit priest said the new director would be "answerable to, and take orders from, the same people who have failed the young homeless for the past 20 years".

Father McVerry said the new director would be working within the same community care structures which had "so obviously failed". Instead, the director should be answerable to an independent board with its own structures, he said. A spokeswoman for the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) rejected this criticism, stressing that the ERHA was only set up in March of this year. "It is a new organisation and therefore could not have had any involvement whatsoever in any services for the last 20 years," she said. A spokesman for the Minister, Mr Martin, emphasised the ERHA was an independent body.

"The Forum on Youth Homelessness recommended an independent body and that's what the ERHA is. If we had to set up another new independent body, it would mean months of delays." The proposed multi-disciplinary team to work with young homeless people was also questioned by Father McVerry. He said the team had to work closely with families and local community organisations and services. He warned that the new teams could duplicate existing functions and responsibilities of social workers.

The ERHA also rejected this criticism, pointing out that the new teams would be put in place locally by the health authorities in Dublin and would be managed in the local communities.

Father McVerry also called for a fundamental change of structure to cater for homeless teenagers.

"The failure of the health boards to respond adequately to the problem of young homeless people goes much deeper than simply adding a new post or new services, welcome as they may be", Father McVerry said.

Focus Ireland backed Father McVerry's call for an independent board to develop and monitor services for young homeless people.

Mr Declan Jones, chief executive of Focus Ireland, said a young homeless person could come into contact with up to eight different agencies in one day because of the current lack of cohesion.