The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) is deeply concerned about media reports (Irish Times, Friday 28th February 2025) that young people leaving state care are no longer being prioritised for housing by Dublin City Council (DCC). According to that report, there are 42 young people whose prioritisation for housing has been removed by DCC recently.
We strongly advocate that this prioritisation needs to be reinstated for those young people who find themselves in vulnerable circumstances often beyond their control. It is unacceptable that young people with already limited supports are being left homeless and unable to engage fully in society. Access to accommodation and shelter is a fundamental need. Young people leaving care are already disadvantaged by nature of their early childhood experiences which may include aspects of their journey in the care system.
A key recommendation of the 2009 Ryan report was to ensure that aftercare services should be provided to give young adults a support structure they can rely on. Further to this the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has highlighted that “homeless adolescents are particularly vulnerable to experience institutional and interpersonal violence and that States must provide special protections to these children to mitigate the risk of abuse and exploitation” (CRA Report Card, 2024).
The Irish Times report states that fears of application duplication may be partly responsible for the removal of this prioritisation. It would seem more prudent to examine if there is duplication of applications in relation to Council and Tusla Social Workers and to address those issues rather than remove the prioritisation completely due to duplication concerns. It is inherently unfair and unacceptable that the young people who are the most affected by such matters are the ones who are being further adversely impacted.
We strongly call for immediate restoration of the prioritisation of housing for young people leaving care by Dublin City Council.
