The number of homeless people in Ireland has again hit a record high, with the latest government figures indicating 11,754 people were living in emergency accommodation in January. This is the seventh month in a row that this record has been broken.
A total of 8,323 adults and 3,431 children stayed in emergency shelters during the week of January 23-29. This is an increase from November when 11,632 people stayed in emergency accommodation. The December figure includes 5,042 Irish nationals, 1,840 European Economic Area / UK nationals and 1,441 non-EEA nationals. There were 11,754 people living in emergency accommodation in January 2023 compared to 9,150 people in the previous January, a 25% increase over the year.
"There is deep concern about the growing number of people living in emergency accommodation. Behind the statistics are real facts. Through no fault of their own, they can't afford to buy a house. They can't get on with their lives and the lives of their families. Single people are significantly affected by this crisis, and they can't afford to rent or buy." One or two bed properties are limited.
Ireland is singing an economic success story, yet there are many homeless people. No wonder so many feel powerless and disenfranchised. Prohibition of eviction. Currently valid till 1st April 2023. Under the legislation, all notices issued during the emergency ban period must be postponed until at least the end of March 2023. However, there are some objections to this.
While tenants can serve notices to quit while the ban is in effect, they cannot evict them until the ban ends. However, when these evictions actually take place will depend on a number of factors, including the date the notice was served and the length of the tenancy. This means that quit notices issued before the ban took place will not go ahead until at least April 1.
Speaking at a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sought members' views on the ban on evictions and whether it should be extended into March. However, in the next week or two I will make a decision, as I said in the Dáil, so that people will know where they stand on this issue. Focus Ireland says extending the ban on evictions is essential.
All emergency homeless accommodation is full and more than 1,000 homes are facing eviction by landlords looking to sell them. Both of these conditions still exist, so the continuation of the ban is essential to avoid further increases in family homelessness.
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