Homeless figures had passed 10,000 in January 2020 but in June they were down to 8,699, which is 177 less than in May. Of the 8,699 people accessing emergency accommodation in June, 6,046 were adults and 2,653 dependents. There were 1,159 families in emergency accommodation.
Focus Ireland stressed that much good work is being done but the crisis will continue without a substantial increase in social housing provision as a matter of urgency and a move away from providing yet more emergency accommodation and hubs.
This must be seen as a “line in the sand” for the government. “They must see this cannot continue,” says Focus Ireland in week where homeless families were directed to Garda stations for shelter.
The Government introduced their housing strategy nine months ago and every single month since then the number of homeless people keeps rising and rising and rising. We need them to go back to the drawing board, said Fr Peter McVerry.
The high cost of rent is a factor preventing many households from being able to afford a minimum essential standard of living
Fr Peter McVerry appeals for emergency legislation to prevent the banks and landlords from evicting families, particularly those with children, into homelessness.
Focus Ireland calls for five election demands to be delivered by the new Government to help end the current housing and homeless crisis.
Package does not address the level of rent supplement and the actions of banks when they repossess the properties of buy-to-let landlords.
The number of older people coming to ALONE in need of housing increased by 90% in 2014.
Need for legislation to create ‘rent certainty’ in the private rented sector which would counter rent inflation.
New figures released by Focus Ireland show the number of homeless families in Dublin alone rose to 450 over the first 11 months of this year.
It will take at least 18 months until the new plan begins to deliver the first homes for people in need.
2013 was a year marked by rising numbers of people presenting as homeless.
