Murphy’s homeless figures do not add up
sinn Fein call for independent body to keep count
SINN Fein has called for an independent body to count the homeless figures instead of minister Eoghan Murphy.
The party’s housing spokesman Eoin O Broin claimed the Central Statistics Office was more trustworthy and should take over.
The Dublin TD was speaking after a report in the Irish Times revealed 1,600 people removed from the figures by the Department of Housing are still accessing homeless services.
Mr O Broin said: “Minister Murphy is clearly attempting to redefine the definition of homelessness.
“Families in own door accommodation with no tenancy arrangement and still recorded on the PASS system are in fact homeless.
“The miniter has undermined the credibility of the monthly homeless figures irreparably in recent months. “The CSO must now assume responsibility for the collection and publication of the monthly figures. “This report must also include rough sleepers, women and children in Tusla-funded domestic violence emergency accommodation and those adults and children with leave to remain but using direct provision centres as emergency accommodation.” Mr O Broin’s comments come less than a week after the Irish Mirror reported the real number of homeless this year is in the region of 15,000 – 50% more than the Housing Minister’s figure of 10,000. Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said in the Oireachtas the 5,000 people who will have left homelessness this year were obviously homeless too and so this figure should be added to the 10,000 currently without a roof over their heads. Last week Mr O Broin joined the Irish Mirror’s campaign to ban the sale of homes to unscrupulous and greedy vulture funds. He said: “Until we see some of the other reforms that can be introduced brought in, the sale of homes to vulture funds in the shortterm is absolutely unacceptable.
“In the first instance what we want is the right of the homeowner to restructure the mortgage based on a discount. If that was happening there wouldn’t need to be sales to vulture funds.
“Also, if mortgages are being sold, they need to be sold to properly regulated entities, not to vulture funds.”