Dublin homeless service issues apology after woman punched by staff member at city hostel

Wed 20 Sep 2023 at 14:25 UP DATED BY WATCHROOT.

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive has apologised after a woman who availed of their services was punched by a staff member in a hostel.

Mary Hayes, director of the service, issued an apology at Dublin City Council’s housing committee last week. The homeless woman involved in the incident is now believed to be back sleeping on the streets.

“There was an incident of violence towards a service user, which is totally unacceptable,” she told the meeting.

“But behind that, the way the service user was spoken to, even before the incident happened or escalated, is completely below the standards we would expect.

Dublin Simon Community is helping workers, families and students during the housing crisis to find homes

“Just to say for anyone who hasn’t seen it, there is a video circulating online, it is horrific, and it is shameful, there is no other way of saying it.

“Despite all of the work we have done with private emergency accommodation operators in terms of performance, training, this is showing us we still have a serious way to go.

“I apologise profusely to the person who received that treatment and we have followed up very seriously on it. It’s well below the standard we expect,” she added.

When asked for a further statement on the incident, Dublin City Council said they do not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn said the incident highlighted that people are choosing to sleep on the streets rather than in hostels for safety reasons.

“This is concerning. In my opinion, it’s not a safe place. There’s a lot of people on our streets in tents,” he said.

“I dealt with someone recently who stayed in a hostel and her mobile phone was stolen. When she confronted the person who took it, she was threatened. It’s not good enough.

“These people using homeless services are vulnerable. They’re told to get off the streets, use these services because they’re safe.

“But people aren’t taking these beds because they’re not safe. They’re full of drink, drugs and criminality,” he added.