“A new internationally shared understanding of homelessness and what works in tackling homelessness has emerged and this tells us that the manner in which our services are currently configured means that they are not always maximally optimized towards either preventing or ending homelessness.” (O’Sullivan, 2012)

Very progressive policy exists in the housing field in Ireland which emphasises the need to focus on securing tenancies for individuals who experience chronic or episodic homelessness (e.g. Homelessness Policy Statement (2013), Implementation Plan on the State’s Response to Homelessness (2014) and Social Housing Strategy 2020 (2014). Despite this, large amounts of resources are focused on providing emergency, congregated accommodation to those people who regularly find themselves homeless. This group are often vulnerable because they have been homeless for a very long time.

The numbers in emergency sheltered accommodation have increased significantly. Emergency accommodation does not have the capacity to address the individual needs of the people and is not designed to meet their need to progress to having their own home.

Evidence from Ireland and abroad demonstrates that the ‘housing first’ approach is the most effective way to address the needs of these people. ‘Housing first’ emphasises securing tenancy for individuals and then providing them with a range of supports to help them maintain their tenancy. This is a very person-centred approach which focuses on drawing on available mainstream resources and supports within society and enable people to lead self-determined lives. This approach is particularly suited to homeless people who have mental health and/or addiction issues.