Record number of homeless children in Ireland

Picture: Collins Photo Agency

The number of homeless people in Ireland reached 12,827 at the end of last month, an increase of 136 compared to August.

The latest figures, which show the number of people who accessed emergency accommodation in September, include 8,923 adults and 3,904 children. This is the highest number of children in homelessness ever recorded, increasing by nine on last month.

In July, the overall number of homeless people hit a record level when 12,847 people were recorded using emergency accommodation. 

The figures for August showed a reduction of that figure to 12,691, but the reduction was due to an administrative error in the way previous totals had been counted.

The most recent data shows that there were 1,892 families in emergency accommodation services at the end of last month, alongside 5,822 single people.

Cian O’Callaghan, the Social Democrats housing spokesperson, said that the increase in child homelessness represented a “shameful milestone” for the Government.

“The continued rise in the number children growing up without a home represents a monumental failure for this Government who have watched child homelessness increase by 47 per cent since taking office,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

“There is no acceptable level of child homelessness. We are not a country starved of resources. Ensuring that every child grows up with a home should be the bare minimum for any government."

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin accused the Government of throwing in the towel on the housing crisis.

“Month after month after month, the number of adults and children forced into emergency accommodation is rising,” Mr Ó Broin said.

“It is not enough for Government to say this is their number one priority. They must act like it is their number one priority.” David Carroll, Chief Executive of Depaul said that “we can’t afford to normalise” the homelessness figures each month, adding that he is concerned about the impact on individuals and families living in emergency accommodation.

“It is clear that Housing For All needs to be re-examined to consider the wider housing needs of these extremely vulnerable groups. Any increase in housing supply should be directed towards the social housing sector,” Mr Carroll said.

Wayne Stanley, Executive Director of the Simon Communities of Ireland said that the rise in homelessness is being driven by a lack of “secure, affordable homes”.

Mr Stanley referenced the most recent Locked Out of the Market report, published on Wednesday, which showed that there were the lowest ever level of houses available to rent within the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits last month.

The quarterly report found that there were just 27 properties available to rent within the discretionary rate of the HAP scheme.

“Choices were made in the Budget and the clear consensus is that there was no substantial action there to make a significant dent in the ongoing homelessness crisis,” Mr Stanley said, calling on the Government to raise HAP rates and implement the Simon Homelessness Prevention Bill.

“We have said it before, a crisis demands a crisis response. We saw the impact of the efforts made during the pandemic to reduce homelessness so we know a crisis response will deliver results. We are calling on the government to act.”