MakeRoom Replies to Minister Finneran

Issued : Friday 13 March, 2009

10.3.09

 

Dear Minister,


Thank you for your letter to each of the Chief Executive Officers of each of the organisations which comprise MakeRoom, setting out your views on the MakeRoom campaign for amendments to the Housing Bill.

In this campaign and elsewhere we have made forthright acknowledgement of your personal commitment to the issue of homelessness; our welcome for the Homeless Strategy and Implementation Plan; and our recognition of the work of your dedicated staff.

MakeRoom welcomes the Housing Bill but have set out a small number of clear areas where we believe it can be improved on. You have responded positively on a number of these issues and we look forward to seeing the Government amendments on these. Equally you indicated that you do not share our priorities or analysis on other issues. We have publicly welcomed your engagement with us on these matters and the integrity of the exchange of views.

MakeRoom sees the web-based information and contact initiative as a continuation of this process of engagement and not in any way a criticism of you or your staff. The central purpose of the initiative is to encourage those who are concerned about homelessness to connect with the political system and their representatives to express their views; specifically to indicate that the issue of homelessness should be addressed more centrally in the new Housing Bill. In this engagement people will learn more about the Housing Bill, the priorities which need to be balanced, and the profile of homelessness within the Housing Bill will be raised among politicians and their advisors. While we recognise that not everything we wish to see in the Housing Bill will be possible on this occasion, the public debate upon the issues will lay the groundwork for future revisions. This initiative achieves this in a way which is accessible, cost effective and efficient.

An important aspect of our system is that each person who signs up must include their name and address, so that you can ensure that each contact is with a real person, and a likely voter. Although the draft letter does not request a response, we believe that this provides an invaluable opportunity for you (and other politicians) to communicate directly with people who are motivated by the issues that concern you and your department. On the other hand, if any particular politician so decided, a simple automated response to each e-mail would ensure that no time or expense was taken up with this initiative.

In reflecting on your response to the campaign Make Room acknowledges that it would have been useful to have discussed the campaign with your staff prior to its launch to outline the objectives and purpose of the activity. This would perhaps have prevented the misunderstanding that has occurred as to its intentions.

We are of course happy to post your reply on the web-site and will arrange this during the week. We will also post our own reply and will circulate copies to all of those who have already signed up to, and those who continue to sign up to, the campaign.

We would also welcome the opportunity to discuss with your office or relevant Departmental officials the detail of the government's own amendments and those which we in MakeRoom are seeking. Working together we believe this Housing Bill can have greater meaning to those experiencing homelessness and housing exclusion in Ireland.

We once again thank you for your ongoing commitment and look forward to working with you into the future.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Patrick Burke - Simon Communities of Ireland

Joyce Loughnan - Focus Ireland

Kieran Murphy - Society of St Vincent de Paul

Bob Jordan - Threshold