The number of homeless people has climbed to more than 15,500 – another record high – including 4,775 children, the latest data shows.
Figures published on Friday by the Department of Housing 15,580 people were living in emergency accommodation during the week of April 21st to 27th. This represents an 11 per cent increase on figures from April last year, when there were 14,010 destitute people.
The numbers do not include people sleeping rough, sofa-surfing, in domestic violence refuges or who have been granted international protection but remain stuck in direct provision because they cannot access housing. They show there were 7,031 single adults in emergency accommodation last month, up 9 per cent in a year.
In Dublin there were 11,211 people in homelessness accommodation, including 3,559 children and 4,892 single adults.
Dublin tenants shocked to be evicted due to ‘little-known legal loophole’
More than 100 families in Dublin at risk of homelessness as tenant-in-situ applications paused
Quarter of Irish people intend to include charities in will, survey finds
Homelessness reaches another record high, with more than 15,500 in emergency accommodation
Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Féin spokesman on housing, said the new high was a “stain on this Government” and called on it to “immediately reverse the funding cuts to vital homeless supports such as Housing First and the tenant-in-situ scheme”.
Conor Sheehan, Labour Party housing spokesman said: “This is no longer a housing crisis – it is a housing disaster, and Government is responding with inertia.
“We cannot accept a situation where 4,775 children have no place to call home. That is the appalling vista we are now living in,” he said.
Mike Allen, director of advocacy with Focus Ireland, said the new record shows the Government’s “current approach to homelessness is failing”.
He said it is “totally unacceptable” that there is a record number of 4,775 children homeless as summer approaches.
“This should be a carefree time for children as they look forward to school holidays and the longer evenings. Instead of this, the harsh reality for many children who are homeless is that they are studying for exams while living in family hubs or hotels without anywhere suitable to even do their homework,” he said.
The Salvation Army said its family hubs are now “conveyor belts” of desperate families seeking accommodation.
Though families using its services in Dublin have made the move to independent living in recent months, “immediately, other families are waiting to replace them”, said Erene Williamson, the charity’s lead.
