Kerry people ‘couch surfing’ as row over homelessness reaches council chamber

Sinn Féin Councillor Deirdre Ferris has said 814 applicants on the housing list are living with friends, parents, or relatives and should be classified as homeless.

She tabled a motion at Monday’s full meeting of Kerry County Council (KCC) asking that council include certain applicants on the homeless list who do not want to seek emergency accommodation which is often limited and mostly confined to Tralee and Killarney.

But KCC stated that it must adhere to the ‘established conventions and definitions’ as set out under housing and welfare legislation.

The council acknowledged there are limited instances where applicants residing with family, friends, or relatives want to avoid emergency accommodation. However, these applicants are classified as being in ‘secure accommodation’ and not deemed homeless as defined under the Act.

Cllr Ferris questioned the interpretation of the Act saying it states a local authority has flexibility in defining its own version of homelessness. She asked the council to review the figures because of the significant number of people unable to provide accommodation from their own resources and, in order to avoid emergency accommodation, are forced to ‘couch surf’ with family and relatives.

“I’m asking that these applicants, who have no alternative but to live with family, relatives and friends, and who want to be included on the homeless list, should be included,” she said.

“If they are living with family members – not by their own volition – they deserve the right to be recognised as homeless and be in receipt of the same supports,” she added.

Cllr Ferris is currently dealing with a family with a child with special needs that is ‘split up’ and staying with different friends. She asked fellow councillors to support calls to amend the council’s emergency accommodation policy. She added that people who couch surf do so to stay out of crowded hostels.

“That [family] is an emergency because they are homeless. I’m sorry to see that Kerry County Council’s version of secure accommodation is nowhere near the reality of what it is because none of that couch surfing and living in overcrowded conditions is secure accommodation. It is a desperate situation and our homeless figures are not reflective of the reality,” she said.

Council management said it was a ‘liberal interpretation’ of the legislation and that some cases want to be classified as homeless, yet don’t want to avail of emergency accommodation.

Cllr Ferris refuted this assertion saying it was a ‘notice to quit’ – with no available emergency accommodation to suit the child’s special needs – that resulted in the family being separated. She said this situation – and others like it – should be ‘defined and accepted’ as an emergency.

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