SDG 1 : No Poverty

Homelessness and drug use are complex, interconnected problems that involve housing, health and social services. Developing effective responses requires not only coordination between those services, but an understanding of the experiences of people directly affected.

In 2025, UL researchers joined the cross-agency Expert Group established to address homelessness and drug use in Limerick city and county. UL's contribution is led by Dr Laura Keyes at the Centre for Implementation Research (CIRcUL).

The group carried out stakeholder mapping and data gathering and held workshops involving agencies and people with lived experience of homelessness and addiction. Working with UL, it also developed a voluntary questionnaire for people experiencing street homelessness, described by the project team as the first of its kind in Ireland to be completed by people directly affected by street homelessness.

Distributed in partnership with Ana Liffey and St Vincent de Paul, the questionnaire gives people experiencing street homelessness an opportunity to contribute directly to the evidence informing the group's final report.

Secure housing depends on more than providing a home. Tenants may also need access to practical, financial and community support to help sustain their tenancy and wellbeing.

At Elanora Court, a 153-apartment social housing development, Respond, a national housing and homeless services organisation, introduced a dedicated on-site multidisciplinary team bringing several forms of support together in one location. The team includes a Community Support Worker, Tenant Relations Officer, Technical Services Officer, Facilities Caretaker and Rent Support Officer.

University of Limerick's Centre for Implementation Research (CIRcUL) is carrying out a formative evaluation of the model, examining how the team supports tenants and community development and identifying learning that can be used while the approach is still being implemented.

Elanora Court is the first Respond development to use this dedicated on-site multidisciplinary model. The evaluation will help Respond understand how the approach works in practice and how it could be refined and adapted for future large-scale housing developments.

Children and families experiencing poverty may need support from health, education, family support and community services. But when those services are fragmented or difficult to navigate, families can face gaps in support, duplication between services and barriers to getting the help they need.

The four Local Area Child Poverty Action Plan (LACPAP) pilots were established to address this problem by improving collaboration between local agencies and service providers and developing more integrated, place-based responses to child poverty.

In 2025, University of Limerick's Centre for Implementation Research (CIRcUL) led the evaluation of the four pilots on behalf of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Working with stakeholders in Dún Laoghaire/Wicklow, Tipperary, Kildare and Monaghan, the team is examining how local partnerships are planned and delivered, what helps or hinders organisations working together, and whether the pilots improve access to services for families experiencing disadvantage.

By comparing implementation across four different local contexts, the evaluation will identify practical approaches to making services more coordinated, accessible and responsive to the needs of children and families experiencing poverty.