The number of homeless children in Dublin has doubled in a year, the latest figures show.
Data just released by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive show that during the week of July 20th to July 26th, there were 1,185 children in 556 families in emergency accommodation in Dublin.
This compares with 595 children, from 273 families in July 2014 and represents a 99.1 per cent increase in the number of children and a 104 per cent increase in the number of families.
Last month, there were 70 newly homeless families who had never accessed emergency accommodation before. Some 32 of these newly homeless families came from the Dublin City Council area, 17 from Fingal County Council, and 21 from South Dublin County Council.
Of the 1,185 children now in emergency accommodation, 55 per cent (654) are in single-parent households, with 531 in families headed by couples.
In Cork city, the numbers continue to increase with the figures for July showing there were 49 children in 22 families in emergency accommodation. This compares with 35 children in 16 families in July last year, and with 30 children in 14 families in January.
As housing charities call on the Government to treat the family homelessness crisis as a "national emergency", the figures will intensify pressure on the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly to intervene.
Safety concerns
The
Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(ISPCC) warned of the “immediate” safety concerns for children in emergency accommodation as well as the “devastating impact” of homelessness on children’s ability to learn, develop and enjoy safe play.
ISPCC chief executive Grainia Long said hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and hostels should not be used to house children, except in exceptional circumstances and then only for short periods.
“Where communal areas are shared, further risks are posed to children, either through sharing of facilities with adults from other households , the safety of playing areas or general security,” she said.
Focus Ireland also questioned whether the Government was taking the crisis seriously. The organisation said it wrote to the Taoiseach and Mr Kelly in May calling for rent controls, an increase in rent supplement and a directive which would ensure no family assessed as homeless would be refused a bed for the night.
Long-term solution
A spokesman said it had received only a standard acknowledgment from the Taoiseach’s office. “It is not good enough and shows that this situation is not a priority for the Taoiseach,” he said.
Yesterday, Mr Kenny said funds would be made available to help tackle homelessness if required.
“This is not a question of money, it is not a lack of resources. It is a case of having joined-up thinking, common sense and a response to emergencies as they arise,” he said.
He said the long-term solution lay in the provision of more housing, both social housing and private sector-funded housing. He said Mr Kelly would “very quickly” bring to Cabinet a package of measures to tackle the problem.
He said €37 million had been allocated to local authorities to help them cope with emergency homeless cases. Of this, he said, some €23 million had been used. “If further monies are required, they will be made available.”
Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, Mr Kelly said his department had put "more resources into fighting homelessness than ever before".
“I do accept we are in a perfect storm as regards homelessness, as regards the issue of rents, as regards the issue of mortgages . . . but there is a need for even more thinking on this as to how we are going to deal with it in the short term.”
He said an “intensity of action” was needed and there would be “changes in the coming weeks”. However, he said he also needed greater co-operation from local authorities.
