4 days ago
Homeless numbers hit new record high of 15,915
The number of
homeless people
in the State has reached another record high and now stands at 15,915.
There were 10,957 adults in emergency accommodation, including 4,958 children in 2,320 families, during the last full week of June, according to figures published by the Department of Housing on Friday.
This represents an increase on the record 15,747 people living in emergency accommodation a month earlier.
The numbers, counted during the week of June 23rd to 29th, do not include people sleeping rough, couch-surfing and in domestic violence refuges. Unaccommodated
asylum seekers
are also excluded from the total.
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In Dublin, where the crisis is most acute, there were 7,755 adults and 3,666 children in emergency accommodation.
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'I sleep easier here': The makeshift homeless community under the M50
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The figures also show the majority of adults in emergency accommodation are aged between 25 and 44, with 5,846 people in this age bracket.
The Salvation Army has warned that the childhoods of thousands of young people are being 'suppressed' by the homeless crisis.
Erene Williamson, the charity's homeless services Ireland lead, said: 'Part of a normal childhood involves inviting friends to your home, play dates and sleepovers.
'But these things that so many of us take for granted are not enjoyed by children in emergency accommodation.'
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Sinn Féin's housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said Government failures were 'normalising homelessness'.
'We need funding for vital homeless prevention schemes like tenant-in-situ restored and increased,' he said. 'Without an emergency response from Government the homeless numbers will continue to rise with ever greater number of adults and children forced to live for years in emergency accommodation.'
Social Democrats housing spokesman Rory Hearne said the figures were 'another shameful milestone and an indictment' of the Government.
'These numbers are the direct result of policy choices made by the Government,' he said. 'This is what happens when you do not protect vulnerable renters, or prevent them from becoming homeless.'
