By Cillian Sherlock, PA
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said homelessness rates in Ireland are the “first thing” he thinks about every morning, as the country reached a new record of people in emergency accommodation.
There were 13,841 people accessing emergency homeless accommodation by the end of February, according to the latest figures.
This includes 4,170 children – also the highest number recorded – across 1,994 families.
In the wake of the figures, homelessness charities urged the Government to make social housing a priority while Sinn Féin called for an urgent 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.
Almost 6,000 men and more than 3,700 women were accessing emergency accommodation during that period.
The majority (72 per cent) of the adult service users were in Dublin.
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.
Mr O’Brien acknowledged that developing sufficient permanent homes is the “ultimate solution” to homelessness but said “we are moving in the right direction and at pace”.
He has pointed to a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in the provision of social homes to 12,000, and a doubling of affordable homes – at 4,000 in 2023.
He said homelessness was the single best challenge facing the Government, adding: “It’s the first thing I think about every single day when I get up and go to work.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time: “And what is the solution to that is that we provide more homes which we’re doing – since I took over as minister over 100,000 new homes.
“It’s a big challenge, there is no question, our population is growing, there’s complexities around homelessness as to why people fall into homelessness, it can be through family break up, it can be new arrivals, it can be for a multitude of reasons.
“So it remains the number one challenge but there is hope there.”
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said other figures released on Thursday show that the Government missed its targets for new-build social housing in 2023.
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 described the figures as “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.
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.
He added: “With just less than 2,000 families in emergency accommodation, the number of new homes required to end this crisis for families in long-term homelessness is not impossible to deliver, and this should be a real priority.”
Focus Ireland said it is writing to incoming taoiseach Simon Harris next week to ask him to set clear goals to help end the “human crisis of homelessness”.
“These goals are as follows: prioritising homelessness as a key agenda item, setting more realistic targets for home building, and ensuring a fairer share of social housing supply is allocated to homeless households,” the organisation added.
Wayne Stanley, executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: ”The answer to this crisis lies in the construction of more social and affordable housing and more supports to those at risk of homelessness.
“While a commitment to greater ambition and a recognition of the scale of the crisis is welcome, the Government and the Taoiseach will be judged on results.
“A supportive Government that is committed to shielding individuals and families from homelessness will drive the delivery of more social and affordable homes.
“We need to see concrete actions to increase the allocation of social homes to those experiencing homelessness, particularly those in long-term homelessness.
“The Government should deliver on its promise to pass the Simon Homeless Prevention Bill, and enshrine a right to housing in the constitution.”
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