Government figures confirm homeless crisis reported by charities
New figures from the Department of the Environment confirm the country's growing homelessness crisis.
A total of 70 new families were recorded as homeless in the Dublin Region during July, according to official figures released last night.
The figure tallies with the numbers revealed by homeless charity Focus Ireland.
The average to date in 2015 has been 60 new families each month.
3,285 adults used State-funded emergency accommodation across the country in July.
Niamh Randall of the Simon Communities of Ireland says the government's response so far is inadequate.
"There is some action, but it's far too slow, and the numbers are increasing day by day," she said.
"Our concern is that [the response] is very reactive - rather than looking at the causal issues."
