The number of homeless people in the State has surpassed 14,000 for the first time since records began a decade ago, according to the latest Department of Housing figures.
Data published on Friday show that between April 22nd and 28th, there were 14,009 people in emergency accommodation, including 4,206 children. This represents a 14 per cent increase on the 12,259 homeless people a year ago.
In Dublin, there are 10,216 people in emergency accommodation including 3,188 children, an increase of more than 1,200 since April of last year, when there were 9,010 homeless people, including 2,722 children, in the capital.
The number of homeless single adults has risen by 10 per cent to 6,457 nationwide and is up by 9.6 per cent in Dublin to 4,527 in the same period.
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Data on homelessness began being recorded in the current format by local authorities and collated by the department for monthly publication in July 2014.
Focus Ireland described the figures as “alarming”, with its director of advocacy Mike Allen saying progress on social housing delivery has been “far too slow ... for the over 4,000 children who are homeless”.
“It remains a stark reality that homelessness has increased every month. A key reason for the rising figures is that not enough of the new social housing allocations go to families and individuals trapped in emergency accommodation for lengthy periods,” he said.
David Carroll, chief executive of Depaul, described the new record total as “stark”. He said the figures underlined “the urgent need for recommendations made in the Housing Commission Report to be implemented”.
The report from the commission, published in recent weeks, stated that Ireland’s housing deficit of more than 250,000 homes should be addressed through “emergency action”. Depaul called for Government housing targets to be raised from 33,000 to 50,000 homes for next year “in line with a comprehensive review of national housing policy being conducted on how the housing deficit, highlighted by the commission, can be delivered over the next 10 years”.
Dublin Simon chief executive Catherine Kenny said the figures were “disheartening”.
“Housing is now a collective crisis in this country, and it needs a collective solution.”
She said the local elections on June 7th were an opportunity for the electorate to make housing and homelessness “the top issues” on polling day.
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