RTÉ Investigates
Over a third of privately operated emergency homeless shelters in the capital had fire safety issues when they were inspected by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE).
A failure to update fire logs, to display emergency evacuation routes and to supply fire blankets and carbon monoxide alarms were all noted by inspectors from the DRHE.
These inspections, the reports of which have been made publicly available for the first time, were suspended a year ago due to Covid-19.
Other inspection regimes, such as those of nursing homes and direct provision centres, have continued during the pandemic.
RTÉ Investigates has also learned that just one in six of the DRHE inspections carried out in the year prior to that were subjected to the new National Quality Standards Framework (NQSF).
Independent inspections of emergency accommodation urged amid fire safety fears
Tuesday, March 09, 2021
Opposition parties have called for independent inspectors to investigate private emergency accommodation.
It came after a report revealed that more than a third of privately operated emergency housing in Dublin has fire safety issues.
Inspections carried out by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive found that there were failures around emergency evacuation routes and the supply of fire blankets.
The report was obtained by RTÉ following a Freedom of Information request.
It also emerged that safety inspections were suspended a year ago because of Covid-19.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin described the revelations as “shocking but not surprising”.
RTÉ Investigates
Dublin City Council has reversed its decision to refuse homeless people from outside the capital access to temporary emergency accommodation after the issue was highlighted in a recent RTÉ investigation.
In January, RTÉ Investigates revealed that homeless people registered with local authorities outside the capital were being turned away by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE), even on nights when there were dozens of beds free in emergency hostels in the city.
In a report to Dublin city councillors following the documentary, the DRHE said that it would ensure that all people in such situations would be offered temporary accommodation if they were at risk of having to sleep rough and if the accommodation was available.
No national plan on homelessness published during first wave of Covid-19 Report says how Ireland did not follow the lead of other countries in responding to issue
Tue, Feb 23, 2021, 07:35
Ireland did not publish a national plan on homelessness during the initial wave of Covid-19, assemble a taskforce or set out a policy statement unlike several other countries, a new report has found.
The Simon Communities study Systems Accelerant?, published on Tuesday, is the first of three seeking to analyse the country’s response to the pandemic in the homeless community and how it affected service users.
It highlights the differences in how various countries responded, notably the creation of a homeless sector plan in England in March and clear policy aimed at getting people off the streets in several parts of Australia.