Ms Rose Wall:

Good morning Cathaoirleach and members. We are delighted to be here alongside our colleagues in Threshold, Simon Communities and Focus Ireland. We thank the committee for the opportunity to contribute. I am the CEO at Community Law and Mediation, CLM, and I am joined by my colleague Mary Heavey, a solicitor specialising in housing law. CLM is an independent community law centre. We have been working since 1975 with communities experiencing disadvantage and inequality. That has included advice and representation on housing and homelessness issues which makes up the majority of our work.

We are here to give our views on the general scheme, in particular the proposals to introduce right to reside and habitual residence conditions for access to social housing supports. As outlined in our letter to the committee last week, we have been working since 2022 collectively with our colleagues in other legal and advocacy organisations, such as the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, the Mercy Law Resource Centre and Crosscare, to emphasise the need for caution and detailed consideration of any proposals to add residence criteria for access to social housing supports and-or emergency accommodation. We understand that Part 2 of the general scheme is being brought forward for the purposes of replacing the housing Circular 41/2012. As members of the committee will know, residence as an element of eligibility for social housing is not currently contemplated in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the circular I just mentioned has the effect of acting as a barrier to individuals and families from disadvantaged and marginalised communities from accessing social housing supports.

We welcome in principle, the intention of the Oireachtas to bring clarity to this area through the introduction of primary legislation. However, we are concerned about both the manner in which the general scheme is being brought and what it proposes to do. From our preliminary review of the general scheme, we are gravely concerned that the proposals could trigger a significant rise in homelessness. The general scheme proposes to introduce major new criteria for access to social housing supports which could immediately disentitle a significant number of individuals and families from access to such supports. People who are already most at risk of homelessness, discrimination and disadvantage, in particular those from minority ethnic and migrant communities, would be disproportionately impacted.

In light of the significant implications of Part 2, it is troubling that no formal or structured process of consultation on the conditions for access to social housing was undertaken to inform the contents of the general scheme. We strongly submit that a comprehensive, structured and inclusive public and expert consultation process with all relevant stakeholders on the conditions for access to social housing supports should be undertaken, prior to any proposals being advanced. That would be consistent with obligations under section 42 the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, which provides for the public sector duty. It would also bring in the functions of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, under section 10 of that Act, which has been doing a lot of work in this area. Such a consultation would provide the opportunity to address the myriad of issues and potential unintended consequences caused by the current proposals, some of which my colleague, Ms Heavey, will speak about now.