The number of people registered as homeless in Ireland last month fell slightly compared to the previous month.
In May, 17,447 people were recorded as homeless according to the Department of Housing, down by 101 on the April figure of 17,548, reports RTE.
The figures indicate there were 11,864 adults and 5,583 children availing of emergency State-provided accommodation last month.
Compared to April, there are 21 fewer children and 80 fewer adults in emergency accommodation, reports RTE.
Dublin Simon Community said the figures show 17,447 people are now in emergency accommodation across the country, but of those 12,370 are in the capital — an increase of 9.3% compared to the same period last year.
It said that while there was a marginal decrease compared to the previous report, the figures underline the continued pressure facing households, with many people experiencing homelessness against a backdrop of high rents, rising living costs and a shortage of affordable housing, reports RTE.
Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community, said: “The greatest demand for housing is in the capital and housing needs capital investment.
“While recent policy measures have focused on housing supply and changes within the rental sector, the true test of any intervention must be whether fewer people are entering homelessness and whether more people are able to leave homelessness. That is not the case in the capital,” reports RTE.
Ms Kenny said the latest data also includes 1,869 families and 4,106 children living in emergency accommodation in Dublin.
“These figures don’t account for those rough sleeping, in insecure accommodation, in domestic violence shelters, or those in hidden homelessness (people sleeping in tents, cars, on couches).
“Nor do they include people seeking international protection, who follow a separate accommodation pathway through IPAS,” she said, reports RTE.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin described the slight fall in figures as welcome but said the homeless crisis was continuing.
“Well, first of all, it is never good news when more than 17,000 adults and children are in emergency accommodation.. and we have had over the last number of years, months where there have been marginal reductions, reports RTE.
“Any reduction in the number of adults and children in emergency accommodation is welcome, but I think it would be a very unwise move for Government to claim any corner has been turned when so many people are experiencing homelessness,” reports RTE.
Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said that while the figures had fallen, there is still an “absolute emergency” in homelessness.
He also warned that many more people will become homeless over the next 18 months due to the large number of eviction notices that have been issued, reports RTE.
“There is still a wave of homelessness coming and while the figures are down ever so slightly, I would be really really concerned that this is pointed to as a fall.
“I hope it is a turning point but I don’t believe it is because of that scale of evictions coming, reports RTE.
“We are still in an absolute emergency and I have real concerns that these figures are not capturing the true scale of homelessness…and there is a tsunami of homelessness happening,” he said, reports RTE.
Labour Party housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan said the fall in homelessness figures amounted to a “statistical anomaly.”
“We still have the population of essentially a town nearly the size of Maynooth homeless in this country and we still have 5,583 children homeless, reports RTE.
“I think what we need to see is homeless figures start to come down continually and if they come down continually every single month for six, nine or 12 months, I think that would be real progress,” reports RTE.
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