Number of homeless people in Ireland hits new record
A tent belonging to a homeless person on Abbey Street in Dublin City Centre. File picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
There were 15,378 people recorded as homeless in Ireland at the end of February, marking a new record high in Ireland.
The latest Department of Housing figures showed there were 10,725 adults and 4,653 children in emergency accommodation, including 2,185 families. Over half of these were single-parent families.
This is an increase from the 15,286 people recorded as homeless in the month of January and an increase of 11% from February 2024.
Despite a fall in the number of people recorded as homeless in Ireland during the pandemic, the latter half of the last Government’s term was marked by new records being passed month-by-month on the numbers in emergency accommodation.
The true figure of homelessness is thought to be much higher, as the monthly figures do not include people sleeping rough on the street, people couch-surfing or those who access accommodation in domestic violence refuges.
Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan said: “As the clocks move forward tomorrow, bringing longer and brighter evenings, it should be a time when all children look forward to playing outside.
“Instead, 4,653 children are stuck living in emergency accommodation, with no place to call home.
“This situation would have been considered utterly unacceptable just 10 years ago, and we must remember that is something that can be solved.
“One key measure would be for new Minister for Housing James Browne to implement the Programme for Government commitment that more of the new supply of social housing is used to provide homes for long-term homeless families.
“This same approach drove the sharp fall in homelessness during the pandemic five years ago and we should learn from this approach.
“We believe that it is possible to reduce and then end homelessness if the right actions are taken.”
Speaking in Kildare, Tánaiste Simon Harris acknowledged that the figures for people in emergency accommodation were stark.
Pressed on the ongoing housing crisis requiring emergency measures, Mr Harris said that he did not believe that all aspects of the State were treating it as such.
"Housing needs to be an emergency for every aspect of the State. It needs to be an emergency for Uisce Éireann and it needs to be an emergency for the ESB. It needs to be an emergency for local authorities," Mr Harris said.
"I'm very clear that housing is an emergency, it absolutely is. But I'm also very clear that it needs to be an emergency for every part of the State and at the moment, I'm not sure that it is.
"There are more agencies that could do more."
Labour's housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan has written to Mr Browne urging him to implement the Homeless Families Bill, which was first introduced by Jan O'Sullivan in 2017.
"It passed second stage unopposed and has already gone through legislative scrutiny. It’s time for Government to act," Mr Sheehan said.
The bill would mean that if a family enters emergency accommodation, the best interests of the child or children would be at the centre of decision making in terms of how best to support them.
This would include taking into account what school they attend and whether they need to be close to GP surgeries or hospitals when deciding where to place them in emergency accommodation.
"We have had families leaving their homes and going into emergency accommodation that might be five, 10 or 15 miles away from where they were previously which places huge strain and additional stress on families," said Mr Sheehan.
Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne said the Government is continuing to fail on the issue of homelessness, calling today's figures shameful.
The Government was roundly criticised by Opposition TDs for changes made to the tenant in-situ scheme.
"The tenant in-situ scheme was actually working to keep people in their homes and the Government went and made changes to that scheme which limits its effectiveness and limits its application," said Mr Hearne.
"It has created a lot of confusion at a Local Authority level in terms of implementing."
Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin warned Mr Browne that if he proceeds with the changes, "even more people will be presenting to homelessness services in the coming months".
Mr Ó Broin said that based on what the minister has done to date since taking on the housing portfolio, he does not have confidence in Mr Browne to tackle the crisis.
"If the month-on-month homelessness figures are rising, the Government is failing," he said.
Addressing the issue that no committees have been formed to date due to the long-running speaking row, Mr Ó Broin said the Opposition is not delaying the formation of committees.
The Dublin TD said that when the committees are formed, he would like to see the housing committee meet twice per week as has been done in previous Dáil terms.
"We used to meet twice a week, every week, because of the significance of the housing crisis. In the last Dáil term, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael blocked that," said Mr Ó Brion.
He added: "As soon as the committees are up and running, we will be holding the Government to account on housing and every other issue."
