Equally critical will be reinforcing the statutory framework that underpins our housing system, ensuring robust protections for those in urgent need of essential emergency supports during this ongoing crisis.

In the programme for government, the Government has committed to review the Housing Act 1988, which establishes the legal framework for accessing emergency homelessness support. Reform of this act is essential.

The latest official statistics show 10,683 adults and 4,603 children are living in some sort of emergency accommodation, be it a family hub, hotel room, or hostel.

Others struggle to access even this basic level of support, as individuals, families, and local authority housing officers alike grapple with a system that was designed in 1988 and does not reflect the current realities of homelessness in Ireland.

In our work as a community law centre, assisting people to navigate the legal process for accessing emergency accommodation, we meet the people behind these numbers.

We see that marginalised and socially excluded communities are most acutely experiencing the homelessness crisis. 

This is evident in our recent casework, where we assisted a pregnant woman fleeing a situation of domestic violence sleeping on the floor of her parents’ home with her young children; a couple with underlying medical conditions sleeping in a car in the depths of winter; and a family with young children left languishing in a hotel room for a number of years.

These extreme and urgent cases are no longer outliers in our work.

Furthermore, while providing a nationwide service out of our Limerick and Dublin offices, we see significant inconsistencies in approach across local authorities in administering homeless supports, including certain local authorities applying criteria which we believe are not legally sound.

For example, we see local authorities refusing access to emergency accommodation to people on the basis that they don’t have a local connection to the area. There is no basis in law for this requirement.

Lack of transparency and consistency

This is just one example we see of the lack of transparency and consistency in decision-making by local authorities in applying the current framework.

A review of the Housing Act 1988 presents a significant opportunity to design a new system that is fit for purpose and which protects, rather than restricts, access to basic and vital support.

What should it include? The definition of homelessness in the act should be expanded to capture all forms of homelessness, to include, for example, those sleeping in insecure accommodation, those living under threat of violence, and those living in unfit, substandard housing.

Minimum standards for emergency accommodation should be introduced, as well as the obligation to consider the best interests of the child when assessing the needs of households with children. 

Furthermore, a specific statutory obligation to give reasons for a decision, along with a standardised, independent appeals mechanism, should be introduced to ensure any new system is grounded on natural justice and fair procedures.

Any new system should be grounded on a right-based approach, and it is disappointing that no referendum on housing is on the horizon, despite a commitment in the previous programme for government to hold one, and the Housing Commission’s report recommending a referendum on a right to housing.

Lack of referendum a missed opportunity

The failure to put a referendum on a right to housing to the Irish people, which would be a crucial opportunity for the Irish people to fundamentally, radically, and progressively shape Ireland’s housing policies, is a missed opportunity.

Furthermore, any review of the 1988 act should involve a robust and meaningful public consultation, to ensure that the experiences of families and children who are experiencing homelessness and hidden homelessness, and of those who advocate on their behalf, inform any proposed amendments.

We make this call for an open consultation in the context of a previous attempt by the Department of Housing in 2023 to amend the Housing Act 1988 without any such open process.

The changes proposed at that time, if implemented, would have introduced sweeping restrictions to access to emergency supports, in a potentially unlawful, unworkable, and inhumane manner.

When they came to our attention, we, along with colleagues in other legal and advocacy groups, highlighted our profound concerns.

While we never received any formal update on the proposed changes, we understand they were subsequently dropped.

As identified in the Housing Commission’s report, the State’s housing policies have to date been compounded by ineffective decision-making, lack of consistency, and reactive policy making. 

We urge the Government to break this trend, and to engage in a meaningful, considered and constructive consultation process to guarantee the protection of those most in need.

• Mary Heavey is a solicitor in community law and mediation at a community law centre based in Limerick and Dublin. She practises in the area of housing and homelessness