The number of people in emergency accommodation in Dublin has once again surpassed 9,000 for the month of May.
According to a homelessness report released today by the Department of Housing, there were 9,160 people in emergency accommodation in Dublin in May. In total there was 12,441 people accessing emergency accommodation across the country in May.
Dublin has the highest number of any county in May, with 6,358 adults homeless, which is 73 per cent of all homeless adults. Dublin's number of homeless adults has risen by 70, as there were 6,288 adults homeless in April.
There were 2,802 children entering emergency accommodation in Dublin in May, which is an increase of 80 from 2,722 in April. Homeless charities DePaul, Dublin Simon and Peter McVerry Trust all have reacted to the latest homeless figures for May, saying it is "disappointing" to see that figures are continuing to rise.
Read more: Quarter of Dublin homeless charity's beds occupied by taxi drivers, retail staff and tradespeople
David Carroll, Chief Executive of homeless charity Depaul, said it is "disappointing" that we have not seen any significant reduction in numbers. He said: "An incredible amount of work is still needed alongside significant additional funding from Budget 2024 to get people out of temporary accommodation which is only meant to be short term.
“Depaul is continuing to work through its community based and housing services in order to identify problems on the ground. At present, almost 1 in 2 people in our homeless services (45%) are first time homeless which is a worrying figure.”
Earlier this week Dublin Simon revealed that a quarter of its beds were occupied by taxi drivers, retail staff and tradespeople, health care assistants and carers. Catherine Kenny CEO of Dublin Simon said that the housing insecurity is "affecting workers like never before" and that more supports are needed.
She said: "The lack of exits from homelessness into accommodation also means that people are becoming stuck in homeless services indefinitely, exacerbating the bottleneck in the system and creating distress for the individuals affected.
"We are calling on Government to deliver sustained funding for the homelessness sector that reflects the full cost of service provision, accounts for the extraordinary surge in need, and appropriately remunerates our trained professional staff who are working at and beyond capacity.”
Francis Doherty, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust, added that there is a need for greater emphasis to be placed on the delivery of one-bedroom homes in order to reduce homelessness. He said: "We badly need to turn the corner and get the number of people in homelessness down and keep it going on a downward trajectory.
"To do that we really must look closely at the type of social housing that is being delivered because ultimately, we need to know if we are going to deliver the homes that are the right size, that are affordable and in the right locations to provide pathways out of homelessness.”
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