Number of homeless people increases to 14,159 in May

Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The number of people in homeless accommodation has increased further to 14,159 people in May, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing.

Figures for April saw the number surpass 14,000 for the first time since records began.

The May figures include 9,843 adults, 4,316 children and 2,051 families.

Focus Ireland has called for urgent action from the Government and said the number of families in emergency accommodation was 16 per cent higher compared to the same month last year.

“Homelessness creates huge pain for everyone involved, with children suffering the most,” Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan said.

“It is truly heartbreaking that when many schools are closing for the summer holidays, 4,316 children don’t have a home.

“The aim must be to end long-term homelessness, as opposed to managing it through providing more emergency beds. This is why our pre-budget submission to the Government calls for an urgent increase in the annual social housing targets and measures for homelessness prevention.

“We’re increasingly concerned about the welfare of over 4,000 children living in emergency accommodation for long periods and we’re asking the Government to fund child support workers under Tusla (Child and Family Agency) to ensure that children are adequately supported through the trauma of homelessness.”

Wayne Stanley, executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the next six months is “an important window of opportunity” to tackle homelessness.

“14,000 people, over 4,300 of them children, in homelessness, is correctly called a crisis. But this fact should not feed a sense of fatalism.

“Making progress on homelessness, even getting to the point where homelessness is short-term and quickly solvable, is possible.

“Budget 2025 and the next programme for government will set the framework for success or failure.”