Ms Alice Leahy:

I thank the committee for the invitation to meet with it to discuss this critical issue. I welcome the opportunity to give members our views and to hear theirs. Yesterday, I forwarded a copy of my opening statement, entitled Wasting Time with People?, to the committee. My comments are based on our day-to-day, hands-on work since 1973 with people who find themselves homeless. I have also attached to my opening statement my biography and an information leaflet on the work of the Alice Leahy Trust.

We know that everyone in the Houses of the Oireachtas and beyond is concerned about the plight of homelessness. However, we must ensure that this complex issue receives a complex examination if we are to find a resolution. Having worked in the field of homelessness for almost half a century now, I would have hoped we could have reached a better outcome than the one so graphically evident on our streets. Unfortunately, we have not done so, and in spite of the efforts of many and the spending of immeasurable resources, the overall situation has, if anything, worsened. We still have not reached that point of a holistic, cross-agency, State-sponsored pragmatic response.

Members will note the title of my opening statement is Wasting Time with People with a question mark. This is based on my experience of meeting people in the statutory and NGO sector who find themselves accused of wasting time with people who, perhaps, just want a little time devoted to them alone. A great deal of time is required to build up relationships with vulnerable people, and it is only from that base that we can hope to see some change. Homelessness must be looked at from at least two angles. The structural causes due to lack of housing, which can be eased by increased housing supply, is perhaps the simplest of the two. The social and personal issues that can lead to homelessness are much more complicated and require early intervention if we are to halt the slide of vulnerable human beings onto our streets.

The people we meet who present as homeless have myriad social problems related to the complexity of their personal and unique human condition. Intergenerational poverty relating to poor finance and education, absence of opportunity to work or to have a stake in society all combine to undermine the person. Struggling families where child poverty, neglect, violence or abuse have never been addressed or acknowledged can all lead to low self-esteem and often result in homelessness. Mental health issues are too often dealt with through a medical model response alone. Relationship breakdown and domestic violence can be huge factors.

People become homeless because of their drug-alcohol problem and the challenging behaviour associated with it. We have a very serious drug problem in our city and in our country. Wider society needs to be aware of its responsibility and culpability when it comes to the use of recreational drugs. People who use recreational drugs must recognise the reality that they are supporting a vicious industry.

The Alice Leahy Trust on Bride Road in the heart of Dublin regularly meets people from throughout the country and from other jurisdictions.

Cities, after all, are about diversity. Some of these people are linked into services in other areas and this can cause considerable challenges for those attempting to meet their needs in providing shelter.

Tragically, we see homeless people dying on the streets. We help but sometimes, in spite of our best efforts and the efforts of many others, it is not always possible to save each and every one. We must support and comfort, give all we can in terms of compassion, but sometimes we just cannot enable change.

Government, interdepartmental and inter-agency collaboration is required to address these profound issues but it is meaningless unless the views of front-line workers are listened to. Building up relationships must start with accepting people in all their vulnerability and listening to them; they have a right to be heard.

Just last weekend the American author, Sarah Jaffe, was interviewed by Tim Adams in The Observer. She wrote about front-line workers in New York and the nurses "would tell me that they were getting told, in these exact words, 'to not waste time on things that were non-productive', by which the hospital bosses meant caring, getting to know patients”. It is quite clear that working hands-on with people with complex needs takes time, commitment and a belief that anything is possible. However, that is much harder than ticking boxes and the comfort of bureaucracy. It is necessary if we are ever to make a real difference.