19 hours ago
Migrants face restrictions on social housing
A new immigration clampdown will limit access to social housing to people with strong, long-term connections to Ireland, and emergency homeless accommodation will also be restricted.
Under plans due to go to cabinet in the next fortnight, social housing applicants must be lawfully and habitually resident in Ireland, meaning they must have close ties with the state, have been living in Ireland for some time and intend to stay for the foreseeable future.
The government first floated the suggestions in a proposed law early last year, but later dropped the plans. It is understood that, after extensive legal advice in recent months, the measures are back on the table.
The rules could spark controversy because they are likely to lead to an increase in non-Irish nationals being excluded from housing and homeless lists.
Ministers will be told that the law is needed to eliminate 'ambiguity' over existing rules for non-Irish nationals who want to apply for social housing at a time of intense public and political scrutiny over housing waiting lists.
Alongside the new rules, ministers are also due to approve plans to introduce similar eligibility criteria for access to homeless accommodation. This will mean that local authorities will not be required to assess households for homeless supports unless they are legally and habitually resident in the state.
Local authorities currently do not have a legal basis to refuse accommodation based on legal or habitual residence.
• Ministerial row stalls use of empty offices to house asylum seekers
The issue of immigration and its effect on the homeless figures was previously raised by Simon Harris, the tanaiste, in an interview with The Sunday Times.
At the time, the Fine Gael leader said: 'People understand the fact that homelessness numbers are heavily impacted by the fact we are seeing many people seek protection in our country, seek asylum in our country and many people come from abroad hoping to have a new future in Ireland and immigration. It has many, many pluses, but it has had a challenge there.'
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission previously raised concerns about any move to change social housing eligibility, saying it could have a 'discriminatory and disproportionate impact on ethnic minority communities, and on the most vulnerable groups in our society'.
It added that applying the new habitual residence condition to social housing assistance was likely to result in criticism of Ireland by human rights monitoring bodies.
Under further changes due to be signed off, there will be an independent appeals mechanism for people who feel they have been unfairly excluded from social housing eligibility.
Changes to the criteria for getting homeless accommodation will be made by way of an amendment to the Housing Act 1988, which sets out what assistance can be offered by local authorities in terms of homelessness.
It comes after homeless figures again reached another record high. Figures released last week by the Department of Housing show that 15,747 people were living in emergency accommodation in May, an increase of 167 people on those recorded as homeless in April. The total includes 4,844 children.
At present, asylum seekers are not entitled to housing support or emergency beds. However, if an asylum seeker is granted leave to remain and has nowhere to stay, and potentially leaves direct provision, they will show up on official homeless figures. The homeless figures for May show that 3,031 adults in emergency accommodation, or 28 per cent of the overall adults, were not citizens of the European Economic Area.
Separately, it has emerged that the planned delivery of almost 3,000 social homes has been delayed over value-for-money concerns. The homes were due to be built in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Sligo by a consortium under the public-private partnership model. The Department of Housing said this weekend the decision 'reflects a careful consideration of the costs and taxpayer funding'.
