Figures don't show the ‘real picture’ of Cork homelessness

Official homelessness figures for Cork County Council’s Western Division do not reflect the true extent of the problem, according to local councillors, who raised the issue following a presentation to members of the council’s latest Housing Directorate report.

Social Democrats councillor Isobel Towse said figures should be made available for those presenting as homeless to council services and refused, and not just those who are placed in emergency accommodation to “get a real picture of the problem”. 

The most recent figures presented to councillors for 2025 show there were 59 people in emergency accommodation in the county, with 22 of those in the Western Division. The figures show in the county, 58 people were allocated to local authority or approved housing body tenancies from homelessness, six of whom were in the Western Division.

HAP

There were 10 people moved from homelessness to Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), three in the Western Division, and there were 49 homeless preventions to HAP, including 17 in the Western Division.

Independent Ireland councillor Danny Collins said homeless people from outside of West Cork from as far away as Limerick were being placed in accommodation in Glengarriff, where they were causing issues with anti-social behaviour that needed to be addressed.

His party colleague Daniel Sexton said it was clear the homelessness issue in West Cork was more serious than the figures suggested. 

He said: “There is an awful lot of homelessness in West Cork. I think the real figures are far far more.” Mr Sexton said many people were “falling through the cracks”. 

This article is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme