Ms Claire McSweeney:

I will speak about access to housing on release from prison. A study of the two year period following release from prison showed that less than a third who had homes to go to were reconvicted compared to 69% of those who had no home. In the 2005 research, 44% of prisoners did not think they would be returning to the accommodation they were in prior to incarceration. People are often discharged into emergency accommodation or can end up rough sleeping. Prisoners who are homeless tend to be long-term homeless with extremely complex needs, often combining problematic drug and-or alcohol use with mental health problems. Without permanent and stable accommodation it is extremely difficult for people with these support needs to seek the support they require, to plan for the future and to make the kinds of changes in their lives that enable them to move away from those aspects of their life before prison.

Living in emergency accommodation limits people when applying for employment. Social welfare payments are stopped for the duration of a prison sentence meaning that people have difficulties accessing private rental accommodation because they have no money for a deposit or even to pay hostel service charges on release from prison. Simon Communities have encountered people experiencing difficulties finding a landlord who will accept tenants with a conviction. On conviction and entry into the prison system people can lose their position on the social housing waiting list and have to undergo a housing needs assessment again upon release.

Pre-release housing needs assessments must be carried out well in advance of prisoners exiting prison. Challenges are experienced by those with no address or when early release occurs. The resourcing of prison resettlement officers is welcome and must be continued to ensure nobody is released into a situation of homelessness. Personalised discharge plans should be put in place for all people exiting prison services. This should include a pre-release assessment of all necessary health and social welfare supports to ensure access to basic income and medical treatments and medication on release. Innovative pilot programmes in Cork prison should be rolled out nationwide as a matter of priority. This includes the establishment of homeless officers within the prison, funded under the national drug strategy and the development of a medical card pilot project which ensures prisoners have access to all necessary medication on release.

People should be released from prison into permanent accommodation. Stable, permanent and supported accommodation is needed to prevent people entering or re-entering homelessness on release from prison. In 2013, the Government committed through the homelessness policy statement to adopt a ‘housing led’ approach to tackling the homelessness crisis. This was reinforced by more recent commitments in the action plan to triple Housing First tenancies in the Dublin region during 2017. This urgently needs to be implemented and expanded nationwide.

Housing First provides housing without preconditions and offers a range of supports focussed on recovery and empowerment. The success of such initiatives

depends not just on housing but also, crucially, on drug and alcohol, mental health, education and community integration services being available to tenants who were formerly homeless.

The primary cause of homelessness relates to poverty, inequality and a lack of affordable housing often coupled with systems failures and individual circumstances. New models of social and affordable housing are badly needed to meet the needs of low and middle income households. With access to affordable housing and the right supports people can move out of homelessness quickly. Affordable housing models such as ‘cost rental’ provides a financially sustainable means of providing affordable housing to meet the needs of low income households. Combined with increased local authority social housing construction, affordable housing models can have a significant impact on the number of people exiting homelessness and stemming the tide of those entering a situation of homelessness.

I will hand over to Ms Niamh Randall to conclude.