Dublin Lord Mayor presents homeless strategy ‘wish list’ to Housing Minister

A further moritorium on evictions and the creation of a youth homelessness strategy are among five key recommendations in a "wish list" report given to Government on Friday.

The Lord Mayor's taskforce in Dublin, which has met 13 times in an effort to tackle the homelessness problem, expects a formal response to its report from the Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien after Christmas.

Although no funding has been secured for any of the measures proposed, the Lord Mary Hazel Chu said she was enthused by a meeting with the Minister on Friday and said further work can be done if required.

“The ball is in his court but let’s be honest, it’s in all our courts. If he says we want to work on this but you have to give us figures we would be happy to do that,” she said. “It’s not all costed yet but it can be.”

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The Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The report has sought an increase in funding for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) Street Outreach programme and for the Peter McVerry Trust’s Housing First programme, and for a greater investment in health supports.

It is also looking for funding towards the implementation of a DRHE report on day and evening services.

Ms Chu said her meeting with the Minister was positive and that he demonstrated an interest in the issues but what ultimately happens as a result of the taskforce recommendations will not be known until a further meeting in January.

Various stakeholders including Dublin Simon, the Alice Leahy Trust, the Mendicity Institution, the Ana Liffey Drug Project, Threshold, Focus Ireland, the HSE, Tusla and service users all assisted in the report's production.