7,219 people recorded in emergency accommodation in Dublin in February 2020

Dublin Simon Community welcomes the publication of the February 2020 Homelessness Report, released today by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

While the organisation welcomed the drop in emergency figures, Dublin Simon Community CEO Sam McGuinness stated that the present focus was to safeguard people experiencing homelessness through the Covid-19 crisis:

“While we welcome the decrease in in the latest homelessness figures published for February 2020, this radically changed environment we are now operating in is incomparable to anything that has come before. Our priority at this time is to safeguard the most vulnerable in our society by providing them with the space and support they need to get through this pandemic. I’m equally conscious of all our staff; nurses, key workers, outreach teams, counsellors, cleaners and housing maintenance personnel in our organisation who are sacrificing a great deal at this time to support the people we help.

The teamwork demonstrated by NGOs, the DRHE, the HSE, the Department of Housing  and all other parties to facilitate cocooning and self-isolation for people in homeless services has been very positive so far. We hope the success of this inter-agency cooperation is something we can build on going forward as we move through this Covid-19 crisis.”