August homeless figures show another 'shocking' rise in children without a home

There are now 10,338 homeless people in the country, according to new Department of Housing figures for August released this morning.

That is a rise of 63 in a month.

Ireland now has 3,848 homeless children living in emergency accommodation after an additional 70 children became homeless across the country in August.

The numbers show that 66% of the people in emergency accommodation are based in the Dublin area.

However, the regional breakdown shows this is not just a problem in Dublin as there are 419 homeless people in Cork, 255 in Limerick, 112 in Waterford and 311 in Galway.

In the Leinster commuter counties of Kildare, Meath and Louth there are 184, 111 and 170 respectively.

The CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless, Anthony Flynn, said the actual figures are probably higher.

He said: “Yet again we have seen a further increase in the number of homeless people across the State.

"The overall figure now stands officially at 10,338 when in reality if we were as detailed as other countries in including rough sleepers, families in women’s shelters, direct provision and couch surfers this figure would be at least double this amount.

The most shocking increase is the number of children that became homeless in August as this figure increased by 70 to 3,848.

"The Minister continues to persist with the private rental market to fix a government problem and instead of council-led builds we are hearing about co-living developments, hotels being built all across the city and affordable housing that isn’t as described.

"In O’Devaney Gardens the definition of affordable would require a couple to earn €109,000 per year and have €42,000 in savings."

Mr Flynn said the government and Minister Murphy need to be held accountable for what he described as a "housing emergency".

He said: "This isn’t affordable to most people. Behind these numbers are human beings that need proper supports and homes to live in and they are being let down over and over again by the State.”