Big rise in adult homelessness in Cork and Kerry, says report

THE number of adult-only households experiencing homelessness in the Cork and Kerry region has significantly increased.

A report published by Focus Ireland shows that nationally the number of adult-only households in emergency accommodation has more than tripled in less than 10 years, going from 1,962 in June 2014 to 6,000 in October 2023.

The increase in adult-only homelessness has primarily occurred in Dublin which now accounts for 70% of all homeless adult-only households, the report states.

While the report notes that outside Dublin, the number of adult-only households in emergency accommodation had plateaued since the start of 2019, it said that the south-west region, made up of Cork and Kerry, was one of two regions outside Dublin which has seen a “significant increase”.

The report is part of a series of Focus on Homelessness reports that Focus Ireland has published in partnership with the School of Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin.

Another trend from the report is the sharp rise in number of females presenting as homeless and seeking emergency accommodation.

While homeless adult-only households are predominantly male (75%), the number of females has increased faster than males (171% for females since 2014 compared with 133% for males) with this pattern being pronounced in the last three years.

The latest figures issued by the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage show out of 582 adults in emergency accommodation in the south-west region, which is made up of Cork and Kerry, 36% (209) are female, while 373 are male.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould said of the report “the figures are stark, and I have seen, over the last number of years, an increase in women having to access emergency accommodation.”

Mr Gould told The Echo that he and his Cork colleagues had been calling for an increase in capacity of specialist emergency accommodation centres for women, saying, “Edel House is brilliant, but it doesn’t have enough capacity for these very vulnerable women.”