Numbers in emergency accommodation in Dublin increase by 37%

Dublin Simon say that homelessness & housing must be a red line issue for the next Government

Friday, March 11, 2016

The Dublin Simon Community today (11 Mar 2016) said that as the number of people stuck in emergency accommodation continues to increase at a shocking rate, housing and homelessness must be a red line issue for the next Government if we are to tackle the crisis.

Today’s figures from the Department of the Environment show that individuals living in emergency accommodation have increased from 1,960 to 2,678 from January 2015 to January of this year. The number of children who are homeless in Dublin grew at an alarming rate – from 680 in Jan 2015 to a shocking 1,570 this Jan.

Sam McGuinness from Dublin Simon Community stated, “The figures show that there is no let up in the numbers becoming homeless. With little to no move on accommodation, people are unable to leave homelessness and it’s clear to see that the current measures are letting people down.

A breakdown of the homeless figures shows;

• There are 1,636 adults currently in emergency accommodation. That’s a year on year increase of 11.5%.
• The number of families has increased by 114% from 359 to 769.
• That 63% of families are single parents with the other 37% of families are couples.
• Single individuals have risen by 36%, from 1960 to 2678 for the 12 month period.
• Children have increased by an astonishing 101%, with numbers growing from 780 to 1570.
• During one night in November 2015, there were 152 people without a safe place to sleep in Dublin City. This included 91 people sleeping rough and 61 people sheltering at the Nite Café.

Dublin Simon Community provides services to over 3,000 people in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Meath who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Services range from:

• Emergency accommodation & support providing people with a place of welcome, warmth & safety;
• Soup runs & rough sleeper teams who are often the first point of contact for people sleeping rough.
• Housing provision, tenancy sustainment & settlement services, housing advice & information services helping people to make the move out of homelessness & working with households at risk;
• Specialist health & treatment services addressing some of the issues which may have contributed to homeless occurring or may be a consequence.