Introduction
The Simon Communities in Ireland welcome the invitation to make this submission to the Joint
Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government on the content of the recent report
published by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government on the Categorisation of
Emergency Accommodation in Monthly Homeless Reports (the report). Our expertise stems from
our experience of almost 50 years working with people experiencing homelessness; our involvement
in FEANTSA1
(the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless); our
ongoing liaison with the CSO on appropriate Census homelessness data collection methodologies;
and our participation on the National Homeless Consultative Committee (NHCC) and the NHCC Data
Sub Committee Chaired by Professor Eoin O’Sullivan of Trinity College Dublin. The report in question
raises several issues relating to statistical methodologies and best practice that underpin accurate
homelessness data collection across the State. This submission will briefly explore these issues from
the perspective of agreed data collection methodologies, the benefits of these methodologies and
best practice in evolving data collection methodologies. This will be followed by a brief analysis of
the figures reported in the re-categorisation of Emergency Accommodation Monthly Homeless
Report figures that took place earlier this year, the nature of the resulting housing arrangements and
the lack of a detailed analysis of same.
