Over 10 thousand homeless people were in emergency accommodation in April. It’s the first time it’s passed that mark since the start of the pandemic.
New figures released by the Department of Housing show there were 10,049 people in emergency accommodation in April.
Of those, just over 2,900 were children. Dublin continues to have the highest numbers in emergency accommodation, with just under five thousand adults and 950 children.
1,308 families used emergency accommodation in April.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has called on Minister Darragh O’Brien to take urgent action as homelessness returns to record levels.
“The figures in April’s Department of Housing’s homeless report show that we have unfortunately returned to record levels of homelessness.
“This government is to blame for this. It, like the government before it, while failing to provide an adequate level of new real social housing, has also failed to address the shrinking private rental sector. As a result, more and more families are experiencing homelessness.
“We know that more and more landlords are selling up and the issuing of notices to quit from landlords are responsible for more than half of all evictions. The squeeze in the rental market in turn makes it harder for them for source new accommodation.
“The Minister (Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien) must allow councils to buy rental properties where HAP or RAS tenants have an eviction notice, to prevent the family becoming homeless.
“Ultimately, however, the only way to really tackle the crisis is to increase the number of new, real social homes, owned by local authorities and approved housing bodies.”
