HOUSING CRISIS SHOCK Record 14K are homeless
OVER 10K DUBLIN STAT A FIRST
A RECORD 13,841 people were accessing emergency homeless accommodation by the end of February, according to the latest figures.
This includes 4,170 children - also the highest number ever recorded.
The children come from 1,994 families.
In the wake of the figures, homelessness charities urged the Government to make social housing a priority, while Sinn Fein called for a general election.
The Department of Housing data shows that 9,671 adults were accessing emergency accommodation managed by local authorities during the last full week of February.
Two-thirds of those were classified as single adults.
Some 72 per cent of the adult service users were in Dublin, where homeless figures surpassed 10,000 for the first time.
The latest figures also show an increase of 2,099 people (18 per cent) in emergency accommodation in the 12 months since February 2023, including a 24 per cent increase in children.
Sinn Fein’s housing spokesman Eoin O Broin said other figures released yesterday show that the Government missed its targets for new-build social housing in 2023.
Missed
He said: “Homelessness is rising because the Government’s social and affordable housing targets are too low and are being missed every single year.
“This Government is not capable of solving this crisis. The longer they are in government the worse the housing crisis is going to get.”
He added: “We urgently need a general election, a change of government and crucially a change of housing plan to deliver the volume of social and affordable homes that are needed to tackle this escalating crisis.”
Focus Ireland called the figures distressing” and called on the Government to make tackling homelessness a “political priority”.
The charity said there was an urgent need for more decisive action to reverse the trend of rising monthly homelessness figures since the end of the pandemic.
Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan said: “There are solutions in the short, medium, and long term to this crisis.
“We have repeatedly called for a fairer allocation of social homes for homeless households.
Mr Dennigan added: “With just less than 2,000 families in emergency accommodation, the number of new homes required to end this crisis for families in longterm homelessness is not impossible to deliver, and this should be a real priority.”