Pre-coronavirus homelessness figures fall but 'remain troubling', say charities

Latest homelessness figures show 10,148 people were in emergency accommodation at the end of February - a fall of 123 compared with the figure for January.

The figure applies to a period before the current Covid-19 outbreak and the swathe of measures since put in place to try and protect those in emergency accommodation from getting and transmitting the illness.

Commenting on the figures, Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy said: "The priority in the coming weeks is the safety of all those in emergency accommodation. Local authorities and NGOs have been working incredibly hard to ensure that there is extra capacity in emergency accommodation.

This extra capacity means that self-isolation can be put in place where needed, but also so that we can de-congregate settings to allow for proper social distancing measures.

"More than 600 new places have been secured, with more to come if necessary. I have guaranteed local authorities additional funding to support this work.

"My Department is working closely with the HSE, the local authorities and their NGO service delivery partners to ensure that all households accessing emergency accommodation receive the necessary supports during this crisis.”

He said local authorities would continue to move as many people out of emergency accommodation into homes as possible.

While the number of adults experiencing homelessness fell by 83 to 6,614 in February, child homelessness increased by 40 from the previous month, with the number of children homeless in Ireland now standing at 3,534.

Dublin accounted for 69% of all those in emergency accommodation in February (4,550 people), followed by the South West with 8% (418 in Cork and 154 in Kerry).

Reacting to the latest figures, Depaul CEO David Carroll said: "All our efforts are being put into protecting the most vulnerable at this time. The homeless figures remain troubling however, at this time of uncertainty all our focus and energy is being directed into keeping people safe. Collaboration is vital in this respect.

“We have been working extremely hard with the HSE and the DRHE and other statutory agencies all with the aim of protecting the most vulnerable in our society. We have reacted by setting up both cocooning and isolation units and we will continue to adapt to this ever-changing crisis.”

Wayne Stanley, spokesperson for the Simon Communities, said the figures are a "stark representation of the scale of vulnerability" that the homelessness and housing crisis has created.

Mr Stanley said: "It is a crisis within a crisis. It is devastatingly clear just how essential a secure and affordable home is to our social and economic wellbeing and crucially, to our health.

"The Minister is correct, in the coming weeks the priority is the safety of those experiencing homelessness.

"However we also have to have an eye to the future. As the political parties sit down to develop a programme for government we call on them to reflect on the impressive capacity shown in the State’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, their own commendable role in that, and remind them that this kind of ambition is what we need to address the housing and homelessness crisis.”