Number of people living in emergency accommodation rises to 9,724

The number of people in emergency accommodation rose to 9,724 in October as more than 14,000 people signed a petition calling on the Minister for Housing to put a six-month cap on the use of B&Bs and hotels for children.

Number of people living in emergency accommodation rises to 9,724

The number of people in emergency accommodation rose to 9,724 in October as more than 14,000 people signed a petition calling on the Minister for Housing to put a six-month cap on the use of B&Bs and hotels for children.

The latest figures showed a rise of 26 in the number of homeless people in October, with a fall of 104 in the number of children in emergency accommodation offset by a rise of 13o in the number of homeless adults.

However, Focus Ireland tweeted that the latest figures showed a "shocking" 15% rise in homelessness in the year to October, as well as a record October monthly Dublin high of 89 families with no history of homelessness present, including 183 children. It said the government had failed to take a number of vital decisions required to ease the crisis.

It also said that one family became homeless every eight hours last month in Dublin alone.

Commenting on the latest figures, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy said: "There are still too many families and children experiencing this crisis but it’s certainly a positive to see that the number of families in emergency accommodation reduced by 44 in October, including 104 dependants.

“For a third consecutive month we have seen a fall in the numbers of families presenting to homeless services in the Dublin region, which is welcome. We also saw more than one hundred families prevented from entering emergency accommodation last month, thanks to dedicated initiatives like the HAP Place-finders. A further 70 families exited emergency accommodation.”

However, there were still 3,725 children in emergency accommodation in October, involving 1,709 families, with Barnardos claiming that the vast majority of those children now faced a Christmas in hotels and B&Bs.

The charity delivered to the Minister a petition signed by more than 14,000 demanding the six-month cap on the use of such accommodation for homeless children and the Head of Advocacy at Bardos, June Tinsley, said: "While there was a small decrease in the number of children and families homeless last month, the fact remains that thousands of children are facing into the prospect of Christmas in a small hotel or B&B room. Some of these children are spending their second Christmas in cramped, insecure accommodation without privacy, cooking facilities or space to play with new toys.

“Recent re-categorisation of homeless families by the Department of Housing has seen some families in house and apartment-style emergency accommodation removed from the homeless figures despite not having a long-term, secure lease agreement; yet secure, own-door emergency accommodation is what should be provided for all families experiencing homelessness. Children experiencing homelessness need and deserve somewhere safe and appropriate to develop, eat, learn, rest and play - just as all children do."

The Simon Communities in Ireland said that despite the Government’s ‘reclassification’ of people in emergency accommodation, the upward trend was continuing. The charity's spokesperson, Niamh Randall, said the rationale for the re-categorisation of households was unclear: "If people are living in accommodation paid for by Section 10, in a temporary arrangement and without a tenancy they should be included in these numbers."

The latest figures also showed a rise in homelessness in Galway, Limerick and Kerry and slight decreases in Cork and Waterford.

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