Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Ken Foxe

Married couple not allowed to stay together and broken bed that injured child among complaints about homeless services

A married couple not being allowed to stay together, a broken bed that injured a child, harassment and an alleged assault by staff were among the complaints made about homeless services this year.

The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive said it had received nearly 60 formal complaints in the first half of this year.

A total of 33 of the gripes were said to be related to staff at hostels and accommodation while 10 centred on living conditions in housing.

READ MORE: Over 3,000 children now homeless in Ireland as figures rise again

In one incident in January, a resident alleged they had been assaulted by a staff member while three other complaints were made since then containing allegations of “harassment by staff”.

A mother complained in February she had raised an issue about a broken bed in her room which “caused injury to her son”.

Another client also said he had been injured at homeless accommodation in January in what was described as a “shower door incident”.

There were multiple complaints from people who were struggling to sleep due to other residents making noise including one “roommate [whose] snoring is keeping [the] client awake at night”.

In another similar complaint, a resident said they were being woken by staff at night.

In June, the theft of personal items was reported by one resident in June while a married couple logged a complaint when they could not be accommodated together.

One client claimed he had no access to food as he was at work during scheduled mealtimes and was prohibited from using the kitchen when he returned.

Another person alleged they were left standing at the door of their accommodation “for long periods before [being allowed] entry”. Two complaints were received about alleged harassment with one resident pleading for a single room saying they were “being bullied by other residents”.

There were also gripes from non- residents with one councillor writing a letter about ongoing anti-social behaviour at a property used by the DRHE.

Complaints were made about houses or apartments in use through the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme.

One member of the public raised concerns about “noise/narcotics from [their] HAP tenant neighbour”.

A complaint was also made by Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall TD on behalf of a resident about the conditions of a homeless facility.

There was a sharp rise in the number of complaints being made in June with 17 of the 58 made so far this year in that month alone while 10 were made in January.

A spokeswoman for the DRHE said: “We encourage anyone who wishes to make a complaint to contact us.

“We promote the complaints process across all homeless services through a designated complaints officer and we circulate posters and literature to all accommodation facilities informing users of our complaints process.

“We use the complaints process to improve the services available to people experiencing homelessness.”

“All complaints are investigated within three weeks of being received, with a formal response issued to the individual who submitted the complaint.

That was the only month in which the figure reached double digits with ten complaints also having been logged in January.

READ NEXT:

Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.