Almost 6,000 children in emergency accommodation as homeless numbers rise again

The number of people homeless increased again to a total of 18,065 in September, with almost 6,000 children among them.

This marks an increase of 180 people from August.

The data was published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on Friday evening.

The figures were due to be published on Friday, October 30th, but were delayed due to industrial action.

There were 7,379 single adults without child dependents in homelessness, while the 5,897 children were in 2,821 families.

These figures are individuals in local authority-funded emergency accommodation and do not include those couch-surfing, sharing overcrowded housing, in domestic violence refuges, sleeping rough, in direct-provision centres with legal right to remain in Ireland but unable to access housing, or those staying in private or non-State-funded hostels.

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More than 58 per cent of adults in homeless emergency accommodation were men.

Half of all adults in homeless emergency accommodation held Irish citizenship, 31.4 per cent held non-EEA (European Economic Area) citizenship and 18.6 per cent held EEA/UK citizenship.

The most common age group of adults in homeless emergency accommodation was 25 to 44, with more than 51 per cent.

There were 17.7 per cent in the 18-to-24 age bracket, 28.3 per cent in the 45-to-64 age group and 2.2 per cent aged 65 or older.

More than 8,300 adults accessed local authority managed emergency accommodation during the week of September 21st to 27th in Dublin. Of those, 4,940 were single adults.

Ber Grogan, executive director of Simon Communities of Ireland, said: “These figures are astoundingly depressing.

“A further 180 people are now being forced to experience the trauma of emergency accommodation compared with last month, including 47 more children.

“At 5,897 children now in homeless accommodation that is now the equivalent of around 197 classrooms of 30 children.

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She said that more is needed to be done to prevent people from experiencing homelessness such as providing support before a tenancy is lost and ensuring people can access affordable, secure housing.

Dublin Simon Community expressed “deep concern” following the publication of the figures, as it said it is the second consecutive month that the number of adult women in emergency accommodation across Ireland has exceeded 5,000.

It added that the number of homeless people has seen a 4.5 per cent year-on-year increase.

Dublin Simon called on the Government to “take action”.