Families are being left with little options but to declare themselves as homeless in order to get help from the council, according to a local councillor.

The issue was raised by Councillor Mary Roche at the most recent plenary meeting of wateford city and county council.

Councillor Roche highlighted the growing issue:

The Housing Department will be aware, that not all, but certainly some people who qualify for social housing come from already vulnerable groups and it seems to me that, the option of having to declare yourself homeless and the Council picking it up from there is not good enough.

Continuing on the matter, Councillor Roche outlined that some change could be made to the system in order to help families.

I know it’s a fraught area but it’s happening a lot more frequently, and bumping people out into declaring themselves homeless even with children just doesn’t seem to be the right way, even if they could go back onto the housing list some way and take their place in the queue or qualify for HAP or something therein. I just think it’s something we need to give a little bit of thought to and I’d be grateful if that could happen.

These concerns follow recently released data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which show an increase in the number of families experiencing homelessness or in emergency accommodation.

The latest figures showed a record 17,308 people recorded as homeless nationwide, including over 5,400 children.

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