Why have we so many housing "charity" quangos?

Fred Cryton

We must have at least half a dozen so called housing "charities". Honestly I've lost count. And they all seem to get prominent coverage in the media almost daily. With CEO's earning 6 figure salaries. I suppose you can be "not for profit" when you pay yourself so much in wages there's no profit left.

What we really have is a poverty porn industry thriving on taxpayer money and gullibility, and an Irish fascination with and fetishization of poverty. This is not the case in any other country I'm aware of. When something is unique to Ireland, we need to step back and think what's going on here. Usually it's unique to Ireland because the taxpayer is being taken for a ride.

And their untouchable arrogance has reached the point where they think they can essentially call the elected leader of this country a liar on national media.

FoxForce5

The state outsourced education to quangos in the 1920's , the state is outsourcing housing to quangos in the 2020's. Expect the same outcome.

MegamanBoo

I'd share your concerns about the homelessness 'industry'.

At the same time if what your referring to is Peter McVerry's now withdrawn claims, I still believe Leo lied.

FFG have been massaging figures and providing a false narrative around the housing crisis, and their failures to prevent it or deal with it, for a long time now. They need to go.

LongfordMB

Fully agree. Plenty of homeless people in the UK but we don't see homeless "charities" every day at the top of bbc news. There's a weird irish thing going on. Government probably too spineless to cut their funding.

Beta Ray Bill

They exist because someone genuinely wants to help but then some a$$hole accountant gets involved an wants to make money off it.

And its dead simple to do as well if you've enough capital

Set up a charity, house a few hundred people for a few weeks, run out of money, turn to the government looking for money telling them unless they give it those few hundred people will be made homeless. Government will pay up, as its easier to pay than deal with the fallout.

From then on in you're on the gravy train.

MegamanBoo is right, there is an industry there.

I never give to charity having been burned so often by people at the top of them and watching how they carry on.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447262#Comment_120447262

The UK is ten times the size of Ireland population wise.

Take a region in the UK with a population of about 5m with a similar urban/rural mix.

Study their local media and I'm sure you will find homeless "charities" top of the news.

markjbloggs

27 in Dublin alone, have no figures for the rest of the country but would not be surprised if it was over 100.

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/q-and-a-are-there-too-many-homeless-charities-operating-in-dublin-40951180.html

bucketybuck

A prominent "homeless" charity ended 2021 with €129million in fixed assets and €47million in funds.

Their income in 2014 was €10.6million, in 2020 it was €56 million. They receive circa €30million government funding each year, including €17.5million from Dublin city council alone last year.

The government recently announced a 4 billion euro package to address the housing crisis.

That is why there are so many housing and homelessness groups in the country.

whisky_galore

'Rich' country too starved to look after its own citizens.

Thelonious Monk

Is there anything you like about the modredn world Fred?

Dyr

When the taxpayers cash is being divvied out there's a cohort of people who will be under it with their beaks agape

If you took the funding the government diverts into these NGOs (and their directors salaries) and just handed it to the homeless you'd probably solve half the housing crisis, provided you dealt with mass immigration, but there's an entire sector of the NGO fiddle working to keep that show on the road.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447299#Comment_120447299

Can you give any examples of charities that were set up on the basis that you outlined above please?

thinkabouit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447368#Comment_120447368

If that’s true, That means for all that money paid, I bet not one house was built

how many houses could of been built for €30mill

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447466#Comment_120447466

You can build all the houses you like, but if you can’t staff the supporting services, you’re never going to shift people out of homelessness.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447368#Comment_120447368

What precisely do you suppose those fixed assets are?

MegamanBoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447512#Comment_120447512

You seem to be talking about homelessness which is connected only to something like drug addiction or mental health problems.

What about working homeless? Or those who developed/had worsened drug or mental health problems because of homelessness?

Leo was out with the same line lately, putting it all about individual issues when there's clearly a long ignored supply problem with housing.

And that's only part of the FFG false narrative on housing.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447551#Comment_120447551

Of course, there’s a huge supply problem with housing. But any form of housing still needs to be managed and maintained.

The services that these charities are funded to provide absolutely are focused on homelessness connected to addiction and mental health.

Cluedo Monopoly

Blame FG.

‘Quango cull’ results in just 17 fewer agencies – The Irish Times

‘Quango cull’ results in just 17 fewer agencies

Fine Gael had listed 145 quangos which would be terminated when it got into power

Furze99

Simples - it's a good business to be in.

Dyr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447551#Comment_120447551

There will always be antisocial issues, there will always be someone making a tidy sum out of perpetuating them.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447299#Comment_120447299

I never give to charity

You never give to charity because you don't want to, please don't insult everyone's intelligence with some half baked nonsensical excuse.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447604#Comment_120447604

None of these charities were on the target list for culling. It’s not in the gift of Government to cull a charity. Government can cut funding, but has no direct control over the existence of the charity.

FG did manage to cull the Building Regulations Advisory Board, saving almost nothing, as the advisory members had full time jobs anyway. And we’re left with the utter disasters of pyrites and mica and people facing huge bills to bring badly built apartments up to code.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447642#Comment_120447642

There will always be antisocial issues, as long as we continue to perpetuate huge inequality in access to decent housing, education and employment.

But it’s easier to point the finger at NGOs.

Its like blaming hospitals, doctors and nurses for the existence of sick people.

downtheroad

Why do we have so many charities full stop? Breast Cancer Ireland competing with the Marie Keating Foundation. As I Am charity for autism up again the charity Keith Duffy set up. Age Action Ireland doing very similar work to Alone.

Charity in Ireland is now an industry and too many people are employed in it draining the funds that should be spent on the end users.

blackbox

Charities should not be allowed to pay any wages.

If people believe in the cause they should volunteer their time.

Almost everything that charities do should be done directly by government agencies.

Wezz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447781#Comment_120447781

That isn't feasible when you need professional people to actually do the day to day work involved. A lot of what people are calling charities are actually NGO's, they may have started as a grassroots organisation around a table but have evolved over time. They are bound by legislation as they deal with vulnerable people so they can't just use casual labour from well meaning individuals, staff need to be professionally trained and qualified.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447781#Comment_120447781

So the likes of tradespeople should work for free?

Do you work for free yourself?

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447744#Comment_120447744

Why do we have so many accountants? Why do we have so many butchers? Why do we have so many house painters ?

Why do we have so many dumb threads being repeated on board

NattyO

Charities / quangos in general perpetuate the problems they claim to solve.

There are many proofs of this - Ireland being a great example - if charities / quangos solved the problems they claim to, then Ireland, with the number of quangos we have, would have no social problems at all.

Africa, is of course, the best example of all. There has been an estimated 1.2 TRILLION dollars in aid sent to Africa (mostly sub-saharan Africa) over the past 30 years alone. Not to mention the millions upon millions of hours of help and expertise from foreign workers. Yet the problems besetting the continent are no closer to being solved now than they were 30 years ago.

Charities and quangos only exist as long as the problem they claim to address exists, therefore, as long as people are making money from it, the charities and quangos will ensure, consciously or otherwise, that the problem continues to exist.

Just as no car company will ever try to produce a car that last the customers lifetime, no charity will ever really try to solve the problem they were set up to address.

Viscount Aggro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447837#Comment_120447837

I agree.. they are not charities. Theres plenty of retired executives who would do this work gratis.

Its dishonest to present themselves as charities, when they are really "on the lump".

People in Ireland love free stuff.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447902#Comment_120447902

Charities are not in control of structures and policies to achieve an overall solution. They are funded by Government to provide basic services in housing, addiction, mental health. It’s not in their power to make the changes to eliminate such issues.

Do you blame the doctors and nurses in hospitals for all the sick people there?