Upcoming Events

National | Housing

no events match your query!

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Starmer to Recognise a Palestinian State Tue Jul 29, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
Sir Keir Starmer has declared that the UK will recognise a state of Palestine in September unless Israel makes peace with Hamas, in a move critics say treats statehood as a "bargaining chip" and "rewards Hamas".
The post Starmer to Recognise a Palestinian State appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The NHS ?Non-Jobs? Bonanza Tue Jul 29, 2025 17:49 | David Craig
The NHS is in crisis. Seven million on waiting lists with junior doctors on strike and other staff eyeing industrial action. So why is it continuing to appoint "Environmental Sustainability Managers", asks David Craig.
The post The NHS ‘Non-Jobs’ Bonanza appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Farage Demands Apology After Labour Minister Says He is on the Side of Predators like Jimmy Savile f... Tue Jul 29, 2025 15:32 | Will Jones
Nigel Farage has demanded an apology from Labour Minister Peter Kyle after he accused him of taking the side of paedophiles like Jimmy Savile for wanting to scrap the Online Safety Act over free speech concerns.
The post Farage Demands Apology After Labour Minister Says He is on the Side of Predators like Jimmy Savile for Wanting to Scrap Online Safety Act Over Free Speech Concerns appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Is the Tide Turning Against Woke Comedy? Tue Jul 29, 2025 13:00 | C.J. Strachan
Is the tide turning against woke comedy? After watching Andy Parsons bomb at the Ealing Comedy Festival, of all places, with his usual anti-Trump, anti-Reform schtick, C.J. Strachan thinks its days are numbered.
The post Is the Tide Turning Against Woke Comedy? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Leaked Email Blows Apart BBC?s Impartiality Claims Over Gaza Tue Jul 29, 2025 11:38 | Will Jones
A leaked internal email from a BBC Executive Editor reveals that the corporation has issued prescriptive and biased instructions to staff on how to cover the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The post Leaked Email Blows Apart BBC’s Impartiality Claims Over Gaza appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Focus Ireland Said The New Record Total Of People Homeless Shows That Govt. Policy Is Still Failing To Tackle The Deepening Crisis

category national | housing | press release author Thursday February 28, 2019 22:36author by Focus - Focus Ireland Report this post to the editors

Press Release - Focus Ireland - Feb 27th 2019

Focus Ireland has said that new figures reporting a total of 9,987 people homeless in January show the Government is still failing to do enough to ease the crisis.

The figures show a rise of 2.3% (234 people) in one month alone from 9,753 in Dec to 9,987 in Jan 2019.

The figures from the Department of the Environment also show that 3,624 of the number homeless are children (in 1,614 families)
number_of_homeless_ireland_2019_focus_ireland.jpg

Focus Ireland has said the Government policy must make a much greater shift away from delivering more homeless emergency accommodation and towards delivering a lot more social housing.

The charity said delivering more social housing would also help people struggling to find someone to live in the rental market as it would directly result in freeing up many units in the private rented market that are currently used for HAP tenancies.

The charity also said the current situation would be much worse without the work of Focus Ireland as it helped over 400 families to secure a home last year – in partnership with the State – and move on from homelessness. However, the latest figures show that the crisis is deepening despite this good work by state agencies and NGO’s as the Government continues to shy away from tackling the deeper issues which are driving more people into homelessness.

Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said:

“We are still deeply concerned that the Government’s primary response to the crisis of family homelessness is to build more ‘Hubs’ and other emergency accommodation. The Government admits that Hubs are only a ‘first response’ but there is still no sign of them delivering a second, substantive response which is adequate to the crisis we are facing. As a result families are being trapped in emergency homeless accommodation for longer and longer periods. They are not there by ‘choice’, they are there because they are not being offered secure and affordable homes.”


He added:

“Families need homes not more hubs. We know this can be done as Focus Ireland provided over 150 homes last year in partnership with the State and through the support of our donors. However, the Government is still not delivering enough social housing and we are in very real danger of the short term fix of homeless hubs becoming a long-term situation. Government figures show that too many local authorities are failing to meet the social housing targets, and where the target is met that only highlights how inadequate the targets are as they are far too low given the critical demand for such housing. Governments in the past were able to deliver social and affordable housing much more effectively, even when the country was much poorer than it is today. We need greater ambition and greater delivery of housing.

Focus Ireland research also shows that even a short period of homelessness often has a very negative impact on families – and their children. Over 40% of the families who are homeless in Dublin are now in emergency accommodations for over a year. We strongly believe the Government needs to urgently rethink its approach.”


Meanwhile, Focus Ireland said that its own figures show that the numbers of families becoming newly homeless each month in Dublin has nearly doubled in one month rising as 95 families became newly homeless in Dublin in January compared to 50 in December. Focus Ireland said that each year there is normally a seasonal drop in the number of people who are homeless in December and then a spike in the numbers in the January or February figures. This is due to a number of reasons such as extended family taking in people over Christmas but the situation is not sustainable and the families return to homeless accommodation after a short period.

Focus Ireland also noted that these figures do not include all those families who have been assessed as homeless by local authorities and are receiving homeless support funded by the Department of Housing. The Minister’s still unexplained decision to exclude from the monthly figures homeless families who are accommodated in premises ‘with their own front’ door means that the monthly figures show only part of the problem. Focus Ireland called on the Department of Housing to publish the number of families living in ‘own door’ emergency accommodation, which is the practice in England and Scotland where similar properties are used to accommodate homeless families.

Focus Ireland has also again called for two key actions which must be taken by the government to help ease the crisis.

  • Develop a specific family homelessness strategy given the scale of this crisis. Focus Ireland has called for the government to introduce a specific sub-strategy for addressing the needs of homeless families. There must be a real impetus when there are children and vulnerable people involved, and we think there has been a failure to grasp that by the government.

  • Set a cast iron deadline that no family or person will be homeless for longer than six months. This will require new measures to prevent men, women and children losing their homes and improved measures to help those who are already homeless. Many are trapped in hotels or bed and breakfasts in one room with their children.




Media Contact: Roughan Mac Namara – 086 85 15 117

Related Link: https://www.focusireland.ie/press/focus-ireland-said-new-record-total-people-homeless-shows-govt-policy-still-failing-tackle-deepening-crisis/
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy