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Minister of State for Housing and Urban Regeneration Damien English TD and the Peter McVerry Trust Opens 13 New Social Housing Units in Dublin

Damien English T.D, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Regeneration and the Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity today (4 December) opened 13 new social housing units in Castle Court, Dublin City Centre. The development consists of 13 apartments at an overall cost of €3.7 million. They will provide housing for people and families exiting emergency accommodation.

The charity has increased its housing stock by 17% and this is increasingly evident that significant progress is being made to help our housing crisis. The State supports the Trust with funding of 14.5 million.
The Minister wished the new residents luck and happiness in their new homes and paid tribute to Dublin City Council, Housing Agency and all involved in the project. The Minister said, “It’s great that those very difficult days are behind them. These apartments represent a new home and a new start. The Government is absolutely committed to helping people and families that find themselves without a home”.

Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust said “We are absolutely delighted to launch these new apartments. It is always a great day to be in a position to hand over a set of keys to a new tenants knowing that they have left homelessness behind for good. Everyone who is allocated one of these new units with receive ongoing, professional support from our Housing with Supports team. Making sure that housing is a first step in their journey back to education, training or employment or simply happier life.”
“Peter McVerry Trust has been working extremely hard to bring forward new housing solutions for people in homelessness. These 13 units launched today have been secured through our partnership with the Housing Agency, who have helped us to secure these long term vacant units as part of their €70 million rolling fund to acquire and then sell stock to approved housing bodies. The project was also backed by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and Dublin City Council”

Mr Doyle said this would be one of a number of new developments the charity will deliver in the next 3 months. “Fortunately, we are now seeing the fruits of months and years of hard work to bring forward new housing projects. In the next few months we will open other new social housing developments in Dublin and other areas. This means more homes for people impacted by homelessness, particularly single people who make up the majority of those in homelessness.”

Minister Damien English also helped launch Peter McVerry Trust’s 2017 annual report. The report found that the charity increased its housing stock by 17% in 2017 and worked with 4,971 people, the highest in its 34 year history. The charity also revealed that it opened 7 new homeless services, including 5 family hubs and was operating in 8 counties across Ireland.