A West Waterford Councillor has called for more emergency accommodation to be provided in that area of the county, as families are continually being directed to Waterford City.
Cllr. Conor McGuinness (Sinn Fein) raised the issue at the May meeting of the Dungarvan / Lismore Municipal District of Waterford City and County Council.
Cllr. McGuinness told the meeting that people's circumstances are rarely, if ever, taken into account.
"There is a need for emergency accommodation in West Waterford. It strikes me that every time that I'm dealing with somebody who is facing homelessness, and I make a request that they will be provided with emergency accommodation in West Waterford - always for good reasons, be it having children in school here, keeping a job in Dungarvan or accessing their support networks - it doesn't ever seem to be available."
"I just want to see, have we significantly added to our emergency accommodation stock in West Waterford?", queried Cllr. McGuinness.
In response, the Waterford City and County Council Executive outlined that there is emergency accommodation in West Waterford, the capacity of which is currently subject to review.
"We do have emergency accommodation in West Waterford for families", explained Waterford City and County Council Housing Director, Ivan Grimes. "We are keeping that under ongoing review because of issues in housing."
"There are no plans to provide a hostel in West Waterford", he confirmed. "We just wouldn't have the numbers to justify it and they are very expensive to operate. They require 24 hour staff, 365 days a year. There are emergency family units, we are actively reviewing the numbers - and it is distinctly possible that we may increase the number in the coming weeks."
