230k houses lie vacant as thousands wait for housing to become available

As Focus Ireland figures show another 74 families became homeless in Dublin last month, the Housing Agency has called for grants to refurbish the hundreds of thousands of homes lying vacant.

Using 2011 census figures, the Housing Agency has estimated that 230,056 houses are unoccupied in this country. Meanwhile, there are 6,000 homeless people, including 2,000 children, and 150,000 on the local authority housing waiting lists.

According to new figures from Focus Ireland, 366 families and 731 children in Dublin have become homeless in the first four months of this year alone.