Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan expressed his alarm today that homeless people may be forced to move out of emergency accommodation over the Christmas period due to the seasonal closure of hotels.
Speaking after raising the issue in the Dáil with the Minister for Housing, Simon Coveney, the Limerick city TD said: “Agencies involved in the provision of emergency accommodation for homeless families and single people are extremely worried about the provision of services over the Christmas period in the city.
“Their sense of alarm stems from the fact that hotels in city are closing their doors for three to four days over Christmas which means that homeless families will have to move out at a time when there is already insufficient accommodation available.
“This is unprecedented and has never happened before.
“The scarcity of accommodation means that women, young children and vulnerable people will find themselves on the streets and the council will be powerless to assist them.
“Basically there is no room at the inn in the Centenary year of the 1916 Rising.
“Limerick Council confirmed that on the 25th of November, there were 197 individuals resident in emergency homeless accommodation - 57 of these are young children.
“I am calling on Minister Coveney who will be in Limerick on Friday to intervene immediately.
“My understanding is that there is no accommodation available over the holidays on Christmas Eve, Christmas day, St Stephen’s Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.”