Homelessness in Ireland has surpassed 10,000 for the first time this year

DUBLIN: The number of homeless people seeking emergency accommodation in the country is at an all-time high. Mass evictions of tenants are thought to have contributed to the increase in homelessness. Figures from the Residential Tenancies Board have emerged showing that the number of people receiving eviction notices this year has doubled compared to last year.

Figures released by the Department of Housing show that 7,105 adults and 2,944 children received emergency accommodation across the country at the end of April, for a total of 10,049. This is the highest figure since 2020.

That's up from 9,825 in March, a 24 percent increase from the same month last year, or 1,967 more.The total of 7,105 is made up of 2,518 women and 4,587 males. 53 percent of those in need of emergency housing are between the ages of 24 and 44, compared to 18 percent who are between the ages of 18 and 24 and 27 percent who are over 45, and only 2 percent who are over 65.

According to charitable organisations, there are now more young people than ever before.

70% of homeless adults reside in Dublin, whereas 8% do so in the south-west, 6% do so in the middle, 5% do so in the east, 4% do so in the west, and 3% do so in the south-east. One percent of the adult population resides in the midlands, north east, and north west, respectively.

A total of 1,308 families, including 691 single parent families, reside in emergency housing across the nation.

Focus Ireland's director of advocacy claimed that demand for all of the organization's services throughout the nation is rising.

According to Mike Allen, home construction is the long-term solution and prevention is "crucial."

"People are being kicked out of their homes, either because the landlord is up for sale or because they are late on their rent due to the HAP payment. People find it quite difficult to escape homelessness, he told.

"But let's not ruin people's lives while we're waiting for additional homes. If you look at when it got over 10,000, the first time in 2019, the Department announced a whole range of different things they were going to do. If you look at what's being talked right now, it's precisely the same thing.

"What we must understand is that when the Government pledges to act on these issues today, they genuinely bring in measures that transform them and we aren't back here in a few months," the author says.

64 percent of those who are homeless are Irish, 21 percent are from the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA), and 15 percent are from countries outside the EEA.

3,950 of the more than 10,000 persons accounted for in the numbers were residing in private emergency housing, such as hotels and B&Bs. 3,075 people were residing in temporary housing that was professionally supported on-site, such as family hubs and hostels.

Another 125 people were residing in temporary emergency housing, which is housing for emergencies with no or little support.

"While we acknowledge that there are significant initiatives happening in government and positive policy being developed across the Oireachtas, seeing the number of people experiencing homelessness exceed 10,000 again painfully highlights that the depth of the housing crisis means incremental improvements in our housing system are not enough to get ahead of the homelessness crisis," said Wayne Stanley, head of policy and communication at Simon Communities of Ireland.

The department's figures refer to the number of homeless people accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities during a specific count week, typically the last full week of the month.