TWO St Vincent de Paul (SVP) accomodation schemes were offically opened in Ennis on Monday. The Minister of State for Housing and Local Services, Michael Finneran, formally opened the Laurel Lodge Accommodation Centre and 12 social housing units in the Westbourne Estate on Watery Road. Also in attendance at the opening of the two facilities was the national president of SVP, Mairéad Bushnell.

Laurel Lodge accommodation centre provides emergency accommodation for 13 men, with ancillary services such as full board, housing advice, support, counselling as well as opportunities to avail of training for employment.
The launch of  SVP’s social housing scheme comprises 12 two-bedroom houses, which are located within the overall Local Authority development at Westbourne. Financial assistance from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government was received by the society to undertake this new development.
Centre manager for Laurel Lodge, Patrick Cahill, explained, “The SVP ensure the accommodation centre is staffed every day of the year, providing support to our residents and to others who may require assistance having already moved on from us”.
Although the accommodation centre was only officially opened this week, it has already catered for over 90 admissions since it opened its doors in January of this year and has been successful in assisting many of these to find new homes.
Speaking to The Clare Champion about the facility, Minister of State Michael Finneran said he believed Laurel Lodge would make a significant difference to the people of Clare who found themselves in the unfortunate situation of being homeless.
“While the local authority system and the voluntary housing side of it can provide houses with the help of our department, I think that the back-up services like the SVP provide is very important, whether it’s in the care area, social networking or advice on budgeting. I think that people that wind up homeless wind up in it for reasons that are varied and need different approaches. many become homeless because of family disputes, a family relations breakdown or addiction problems such as alcohol or drugs. Then you have people who have psychiatric or psychological difficulties.
“When they come to Laurel Lodge, they have the support services there that are absolutely necessary. A bed or a roof alone is not sufficient for people. Just getting them to look at the running of a house or their budget or whatever, support services is hugely important and voluntary services like Saint Vincent de Paul are the ideal organisation to do this,” Minister Finneran said.
He added that there are scores of facilities such as Laurel Lodge operating around the country.
“I think that everything can’t be left to the HSE on their own, because there you are supporting institutional care rather than individual personal housing. My department provides €60m towards the cost of this project and that’s topped up by a contribution nationally for the local authorities by 10%.
“One of the few areas that got an increase in the budget 2009 was the homeless side. I increased their budget by 5%, I did that so we could implement the homeless strategy. While I haven’t finalised my negotiations with the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan to date, I will be putting a high priority on the homeless side of things,” Minister Finneran added.
Commenting on the flooding situation and the damage to people’s homes and properties, the minister said that while no formal estimate had been given for the damage caused across the country by the floods, he believed the figure would run into the hundreds of millions, which he said would be born between insurance companies and the government. He added that the Government would have to step in through the local authorities and provide assistance to those in this unfortunate situation.
“€12million is being made available, but obviously that will have to increase dramatically. We’re very conscious that we’ve hundreds of houses that have been flooded. I’ve given clearance to the county managers to re-house people in temporary accommodation and the big task will be to resettle people if needs be,” he concluded.
In formally opening the facility, SVP also acknowledged the support it has received from the Clare town and county councils and from the local representatives of the HSE and the Clare Homeless Forum in their efforts to bring these projects to fruition.