Dublin Simon Community responds to April 2022 Homeless Report

In response to the release of the Homeless report for April 2022 by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage revealing that 7,200 people in Dublin were in emergency accommodation in April 2022 with the figure of 10,049 nationally for the same period, Dublin Simon Community has released the following statement:

“There is no precedent for where we go from here as once again we find ourselves sounding the alarm on a situation that is now overwhelming the system.

In the greater Dublin area, we have almost surpassed the number of people in emergency accommodation during the homeless crisis peak of 2019.

Almost three years on, the wider environment is even more challenging and complex as house prices and cost of living increase while the supply of social and affordable housing remains critically low. On the streets, our outreach team is now meeting an increasing number of women who need access to safe female accommodation but availability cannot keep up with demand.

At this point, there is not only an urgent need to stem the flow into and provide move-on options out of homelessness, but the emergency accommodation system itself is bursting at the seams and staff are working at and beyond capacity to meet the growing demand for services. The detrimental effects of long-term stays in emergency accommodation on mental and physical health are well documented. People are being failed by the system and as a result of that failure will need even more support in the future – it is a vicious circle with no clear exit point.”