New homeless shelters ‘lack privacy’, says Peter McVerry

Fr Peter McVerry has said two new homeless shelters opening in Dublin on Friday will encourage some vulnerable people to remain on the streets due to a lack of private rooms.

The two facilities form part of an overall strategy by Dublin City Council and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) to provide over 200 "quality bed spaces" in the battle against rough sleeping.

The Peter Mc Verry Trust (PMVT) will run a 70-person hostel on Ellis Quay and the Depaul Trust, a 65-person facility at Little Britain Street.

A third shelter to be run by Dublin Simon and the Salvation Army was due to open this week but is the subject of legal proceedings.

Beds in the new services will begin to be used from Friday on a phased basis over the next week.

However, Fr McVerry has criticised the approach saying more individual space is needed to guarantee people won’t feel too intimidated to use them.

“I am delighted it is opening, it will take some people off the streets,” he said.

“[BUT] I am disappointed that the Government are opening more dormitory type hostel accommodation because that is very difficult for some people who don’t feel safe or who feel pressurised into using drugs because they are sharing a room with someone who is using drugs.”

The rooms in the new hostels will comprise bed facilities for three to four people.

“Even that is too much. I would much prefer if these rooms were partitioned off so someone can come in, lock the door behind them and know that they are going to be safe,” Fr McVerry said.

He added much of the efforts to open facilities was about “telling the public that there is a bed there for people if they want it”, but the issue of quality is not discussed.

The problem, he said, was that many potential users, often vulnerable young people, would opt to remain on the streets.

A spokeswoman for the new hostels said each one was provided with lockers for the safe storage of property and that staff would be on hand to reduce any incidents.

“We want to ensure that people have a place to sleep,” she said.

Those in need of a bed can secure one through the Dublin Region Central Placement Service and free-phone service.

“This protocol should ensure immediate access to emergency accommodation and avert the need for any unnecessary queuing outside facilities,” the DRHE said in a previous statement.

Evening meals, breakfast, laundry and bathroom facilities are also provided.

Meanwhile, Cork Simon Community has expressed concern after coming across cases of trench foot and frostbite in the city’s homeless population.

A GP in the city emergency shelter recently came across a case of frostbite and a handful of people with trench foot, a condition in which the surface tissue blackens and dies due to prolonged exposure to damp and cold.

The number of homeless people in the city has risen this year with the emergency shelter full every night.

An average of 15 people a night are sleeping rough in Cork. Simon says rents in the city are spiralling out of control, increasing 14.4 per cent in the 12 months to September 2016. The average rent for a one-bed property in the city centre is 58 per cent above rent supplement and HAP limits for a single person.

Cork Simon has said there is a threefold increase in the number of women sleeping rough this year. The figures are increasing from five per month between December 2015 and February 2016 to 15 per month over the last three months.