Focus Ireland 10th Annual Conference Tuesday 27th September 2016 Aviva Stadium, Dublin 4
NO GOING BACK Building sustainable pathways out of homelessness The 2016 Focus Ireland Conference takes a timely, challenging and informed look under the bonnet of the Governments Action Plan on Homelessness and Housing – Rebuilding Ireland. Will the Plan deliver? What sort of housing will it deliver? When will it deliver? What does it mean for the record number of people facing homelessness? Focus Ireland’s Annual Conference can always be relied upon to feature leading international expertise and this year a paper will be presented by Prof. Guy Johnson (Associate Professor RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia). ‘What can eighty Aussies tell us about homelessness?’ will present the results of an important and highly relevant Australian tracking study on the impacts of tenancy sustainment. Prof Eoin O’Sullivan will respond to this paper drawing out the lessons for Irish policy. This is the tenth annual Focus Ireland conference and it has established itself as a key opportunity for people from across the homeless and housing sectors along with everyone concerned with building social justice to meet and discuss current developments in a critical and constructive way. The keynote discussion on Rebuilding Ireland will be led by Bairbre Nic Aongusa, head of Housing
Call 1850 204 205 Visit focusireland.ie Find us on CHY 7220
Policy at the Dept. of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government with insightful commentary coming from Dr Rory O’Donnell from NESC, the influential Government think-tank and informed housing expert, Dr Lorcan Sirr of DIT. Other highlights will be short presentations of how Focus Ireland and our partners have adapted the internationally successful Housing First approach to work with young care leavers and people leaving psychiatric hospitals as well as people who have a long history of sleeping rough. The conference will close with a look at the challenge of building the right houses and making sure that people who are homeless get a fair chance of accessing them. The discussion will be led by Simon Brooke, Director of Policy at Clúid Housing with Rosalind Carroll the new Director of the Residential Tenancy Board discussing the challenges facing the rented sector.
Focus Ireland 10th Annual Conference Tuesday 27th September 2016 · Aviva Stadium, Dublin 4
NO GOING BACK Building sustainable pathways out of homelessness 9.00
Registration
9.30
Opening of conference Maria Bailey TD, Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government Welcome: Sr Stan Kennedy (Focus Ireland Life President); Ashley Balbirnie (CEO)
10.00 am
Keynote session: What can 80 Aussie’s tell us about homelessness? Chair: Prof Suzanne Quin Prof Guy Johnson, Associate Professor RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Response: Prof Eoin O’Sullivan, Trinity College Dublin
11.00am
Coffee
11.30am
Who will put the housing in housing first – What does the Action Plan for Homelessness promise? Chair: Catherine Maher, National Director of Services, Focus Ireland Bairbre Nic Aongusa, Assistant General Secretary, Dept. of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government Dr Rory O’Donnell, Director NESC Mike Allen, Director of Advocacy, Focus Ireland Dr Lorcan Sirr, Lecturer in Housing Studies, DIT
1.00pm
Lunch
2.00pm
How many varieties of Housing First? Chair: Pat Doyle, CEO Peter McVerry Trust Housing First & Deinstitutionalisation: My home, My choice; Karen Doyle, Focus Ireland Housing First for Youth: HF4Y Limerick: Triona O’Connor, Focus Ireland Housing First for Chronic Rough Sleepers: Dublin Housing First: Focus Ireland speaker
3.45pm
Matching the homes with the people who need them Are we building the houses people need? Simon Brooke, Clúid Housing Does it matter who is allocated the housing? Wayne Stanley, Focus Ireland Challenges and responses in the Private Rented Sector, Rosalind Carroll, Director Residential Tenancy Board
4.15pm
Conference close
Focus Ireland Head Office 9–12 High Street Christchurch Dublin 8
Tel 01 881 5900 LoCall 1850 204 205 Fax 01 881 5950 Email info@focusireland.ie focusireland.ie
Registered charity CHY 7220