The latest homeless figures published on Thursday show just under 10,000 people are accessing State-funded emergency accommodation.
The data provided by the State’s housing authorities shows that in October 2018 there were 5,999 adults and 3,725 dependants in emergency accommodation, of which 1,709 were families.
According to the Department of Housing this is the third consecutive month there has been a fall in the numbers of families presenting to homeless services.
Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy said too many families and children were experiencing homelessness that it was “certainly a positive to see that the number of families in emergency accommodation reduced by 44 in October, including 104 dependants.”
“For a third consecutive month we have seen a fall in the numbers of families presenting to homeless services in the Dublin region,” Mr Murphy said.
“We also saw more than one hundred families prevented from entering emergency accommodation last month, thanks to dedicated initiatives like the HAP place-finders. A further 70 families exited emergency accommodation.”
The figures for October 2018 show the number of persons accessing emergency accommodation nationally increased by 26 individuals and there was a decrease in the number of families accessing emergency accommodation nationally, with 44 fewer families in emergency accommodation, including 104 less dependants.
For the third consecutive month the number of families presenting to homeless services in Dublin decreased - 112 families were prevented from entering emergency accommodation in Dublin during the month of October while 70 families exited emergency accommodation in Dublin during the month of October.
“This is important progress for these families, but we still continue to face a serious challenge and we have to do more. Additional funding for family hubs and more social housing will help, and I continue to engage with the chief executives in the four Dublin local authorities to increase the number of successful outcomes in terms of preventing homelessness and moving families out of hotels,” the Minister said.
“The overall increase in people in emergency accommodation can partly be explained by new beds being provided to help take people from rough sleeping and in to our supported services.
“While it is of course better to see people in emergency accommodation rather than out on the streets, we continue to see an increase in the number of adults seeking help. This underlines the importance of the continued roll-out of Housing First, as well as additional supports for single homelessness,” he said.