More than 19,000 homeless in Ireland, claims Sinn Féin
Homeless tents at Howth Head. Eoin Ó Broin said that while a rough sleeper count is a good idea, the current method does not capture the true number of people sleeping on the streets in Dublin, adding that it needed to be expanded outside the capital city. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/© RollingNews.ie
The number of people who are experiencing homelessness is likely to be over 19,000, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has said.
Mr Ó Broin, who has compiled a document that details the number of people either living in emergency accommodation or sleeping rough, has estimated that there are 19,264 people in homelessness at present. Of this, 5,484 are children.
Official statistics from the Department of Housing, published monthly, said there were 12,827 people experiencing homelessness in September, of which 3,904 were children.
The vast majority of the difference is made up of international protection applicants, who have been granted leave to remain but are unable to find alternative accommodation.
The most recent figures show that there are currently 5,650 people, of which 1,580 are children, who are unable to leave direct provision despite having permission to remain in Ireland.
Mr Ó Broin’s figures also include the number of people accessing Tusla-funded domestic violence accommodation alongside the Dublin rough sleeper count.
The Sinn Féin TD said that while a rough sleeper count is a good idea, the current method does not capture the true number of people sleeping on the streets in Dublin, adding that it needed to be expanded outside the capital city.
“For example, in my own constituency in the suburbs there are rough sleepers who aren’t captured in that count,” Mr Ó Broin said. “But there should be periodically, throughout the year, statewide rough sleeper counts that give us a more accurate picture.”
The Dublin Mid-West TD says that the Government needs to allow an independent body, like the Central Statistics Office or Housing Agency, to collate the total number of people in emergency accommodation.
He added that the Government have set targets to eliminate long-term homelessness by 2030 and that there needed to be accurate figures to achieve that.
