Record level of children and adults in emergency accommodation in Ireland

A record number of 13,841 people were accessing emergency homeless accommodation by the end of February, according to the latest figures.

The record figure includes 4,170 children – also the highest number ever recorded.

The record number of children are spread across 1,994 families.

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The Department of Housing data shows that 9,671 adults were accessing emergency accommodation managed by local authorities during the last full week of February.

Two thirds of those were classified as “single adults”.

Almost 6,000 men and more than 3,700 women were accessing emergency accommodation during that period.

The majority (72 per cent) of the adult service users were in Dublin.

The latest figures also show an increase of 2,099 people (18 per cent) in emergency accommodation in the 12 months since February 2023, including a 24 per cent increase in children.

Focus Ireland described the figures as “distressing” and called on the Government to make tackling homelessness a “political priority”.

Homeless child (stock image)
(Image: Getty)

The charity said there was an urgent need for more decisive action to reverse the trend of rising monthly homelessness figures since the end of the pandemic.

Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “There are solutions in the short, medium, and long term to this crisis.

“We have repeatedly called for a fairer allocation of social homes for homeless households.”

He added: “With just less than 2,000 families in emergency accommodation the number of new homes required to end this crisis for families in long-term homelessness is not impossible to deliver and this should be a real priority.”

Focus Ireland said it is writing to incoming Taoiseach Simon Harris next week to ask him to set clear goals to help end the “human crisis of homelessness”.

Simon Harris
(Image: Eamon Ward/PA Wire)

“These goals are as follows: prioritising homelessness as a key agenda item, setting more realistic targets for home building, and ensuring a fairer share of social housing supply is allocated to homeless households,” the group added.

Wayne Stanley, executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: ”The answer to this crisis lies in the construction of more social and affordable housing and more supports to those at risk of homelessness.

“While a commitment to greater ambition and a recognition of the scale of the crisis is welcome, the Government and the Taoiseach will be judged on results.

“A supportive Government that is committed to shielding individuals and families from homelessness will drive the delivery of more social and affordable homes.

“We need to see concrete actions to increase the allocation of social homes to those experiencing homelessness, particularly those in long-term homelessness.

“The Government should deliver on its promise to pass the Simon Homeless Prevention Bill, and enshrine a right to housing in the constitution.”

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