Homeless spending up 55% in Cork and Kerry

Spending on homeless services in Cork and Kerry soared by 55% last year to over €11.5m.

New figures published by the Department of Housing show expenditure on an array of supports to tackle homelessness in the south-west region in 2018 increased by over €4m from €7.4m the previous year.

The continuing housing crisis has seen a growing number of individuals and families requiring emergency accommodation across the country. The figures show spending on homeless services in Cork and Kerry last year was 32% over the original estimate for 2018 of just under €8.8m. There was a daily average of over two people presenting as homeless to the authorities in Cork and Kerry in the final quarter of last year.

During 2018 the number of homeless adults in Cork rose from 358 to 491, while in Kerry the figure increased from 71 to 118.

The number of families seeking emergency housing assistance across the south-west region rose from 57, including 148 children, at the start of the year to 103 families, including 282 children by last December.

The biggest increase in expenditure last year was in the budget for emergency accommodation which more than doubled to over €7.9m.

Over €4.7m was spent by Cork City Council on emergency accommodation, including almost €3m on housing families in emergency B&Bs, with another €1.7m paid to a number of charities providing emergency shelter, including St Vincent de Paul, Cork Simon and the Good Shepherd Services.

Cork County Council spent almost €1.4m on emergency B&Bs, while Kerry allocated €1.7m, including over €308,000 for Arlington Lodge in Tralee, the main temporary-supported homeless facility.

Spending on homeless prevention measures by the three local authorities last year rose 2% to almost €1.4m with the budget spread across a number of homeless charities, predominantly based in Cork city as well as a homeless persons unit within the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Expenditure on long-term supported accommodation remained unchanged at €1.6m including six projects in Cork City operated by Cork Simon which was given a budget of €355,000.

Spending on homeless services provision and related administration by the three local authorities in Cork and Kerry last year rose by 12% to €604,000.

The Cork branch of the housing charity, Threshold, recently called for more family hubs to be made available in the city as people living in emergency B&B accommodation were “living on edge” because of the fear they will have to vacate their rooms with the onset of the tourist season.

The Redclyffe family hub operated by Good Shepherd Cork, which opened in June 2018 received funding of just under €322,000 last year.