Waterford Council considering charging for out-of-hours homeless service
McGwire House, Waterford
Waterford City and County Council are considering charging for out-of-hours beds at McGwire House.
That is according to information given to the Waterford News and Star under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
In a series of Freedom of Information requests related to homeless services in the county, this paper requested guidelines for the charging of service users for beds at the hostel.
In response, the council said: “There is no charge currently in McGwire House for the use of out of hours beds. But this is being reviewed in line with other local authorities and service providers.”
The council have not provided any other information in relation to the review.
McGwire House is run by charity Depaul in conjunction with the local authority.
Depaul has been contacted for comment, but none was available at the time of publication.
In February 2025, the Waterford News and Star published an article titled 'Real People: What it is like to be homeless in Waterford City'.
In that piece, service users at Waterford Helping the Homeless told us that they were often refused from the hostel, not permitted to use the showers and that CCTV was consistently broken.
This meant that safety incidents could not be properly investigated.
Waterford Helping the Homeless is not part of the council services but a voluntary organisation that provides meals, clothing and other supplies to those sleeping on the street.
We reached out to Waterford City and County Council, who are the administrators for homeless services, with these concerns.
None of our questions were answered.
Instead, we were advised to submit a Freedom of Information request, which we did.
The Waterford News and Star submitted two requests (one prior to the story and one after).
Both were part-granted, which means that some elements were refused.
We submitted appeals for the refused sections of both requests.
The decisions were upheld in both appeals, with some clarifications offered.
Here is what we found.
Access to the hostel is a consistent issue for those sleeping on Waterford’s streets.
When we visited the Waterford Helping the Homeless unit, one service user, Dylan told us that he was unable to get a bed the night before despite a yellow weather warning being in place.
When he went to the hostel he was told there was no space.
The Waterford News & Star requested the booking logs from January to March 2025 for McGwire House.
Those logs were granted and suggest that on the night Dylan was unable to secure a bed, four units were available.
There was no booking for CW Bed 2, Out of Hours Bed 4, Out of Hours Pod 1 and Out of Hours Pod 3.
The Waterford News & Star requested the service agreements between Waterford City and County Council and McGwire House, and the council and any commercial operators.
This section of the request was refused on the grounds that the records contain financial, scientific or commercial material that might result in loss to the business or the people it pertains to.
That decision was upheld on appeal.
Concerns have been raised with the Waterford News & Star, and in the public domain, that certain groups are prioritised over others for beds.
So, we asked for any guidelines for the prioritisation of certain groups, be that on gender, asylum status or any other category.
The council said they do not prioritise any particular group.
Single presentations, they say, are assessed in terms of safety to themselves and others and vulnerability.
They provided us with the DePaul risk assessment form to assist in this understanding.
The council also said: “We are currently operating a waiting list to the hostel, and those on it can use the nightly beds.
“We do assess vulnerability, but we never prioritise one group over another."
The Waterford News and Star requested written communications between the council and McGwire House about safety, compliance and quality issues.
This section of the FOI request was refused.
On appeal, that decision was upheld, but the council offered this clarification:
“We are currently developing a framework for National Qualification Framework across the region Residential Emergency Accommodation settings.
“This will provide for a system of monitoring, recording and addressing compliance with quality and safety issues on the service operations."
The council went on to say that they hold annual reviews with senior management to review service delivery in general.
As part of their agreement with the service, they hold monthly review meetings, exit strategies and support plans for service users.
