Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appeal to the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and to the Government to take an interest in St. Catherine's Foyer, which has been in place since 2004. Will the Minister of State intervene before a final decision is made to close or alter the management ethos of the Cara Foyer in Marrowbone Lane? There were other Cara foyers elsewhere. Dublin City Council and the Simon Community are in discussions about this centre. The main source of funding is the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government via Dublin City Council. The current discussions have not included the local community in any way. The community is hearing by drip-feed about the proposals to turn the foyer into a general homeless shelter. This is not a case of NIMBY-ism. That is not the attitude. The community wants this facility to remain and does not want it altered.

What is being proposed is contrary to the commitment given to the community when it agreed to have the foyer built on its community space when its sports and youth centre was being built. The community was told that unless it allowed the foyer to be built it would get nothing. Thanks to the combination of the St. Catherine's residents' association, the Coalition of Communities against Drugs and Dublin City Council, two fine facilities were built in this severely disadvantaged area of the south inner city. Hundreds of young people and many adults use the sports complex, which shares an entrance with the 48-bed foyer, every day. This is a mixed complex and to the best of my knowledge there has not been one incident or problem between the residents of the foyer and the local community, which augurs well for the future if it is allowed to continue under the ethos and management that it has now.

Up to 14 people between the ages of 18 and 25 years who are homeless or at risk of being homeless can have their own space in this centre for up to two years while they are getting on their feet and availing of a key worker in the complex, as well as other services including educational opportunities and access to work placements. It has been an innovative, unique and holistic answer to the needs of many young homeless people in Dublin and has been very successful. It is a safe space that is now at risk from a proposed change which would allow anybody from the homeless list in the Dublin City Council area, which includes drug users and convicted sex offenders, to invade this space next to a youth centre that is used by hundreds of people every day. If the foyer is changed to a homeless shelter, of which there are already several in the constituency, it will not be the centre of excellence that it has been. This is of concern to the community. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that if Cara wishes to extract itself from the foyer, other options are considered, such as its being taken on by Dublin City Council or another youth organisation to ensure the facility is retained and the community is safe.

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