The homelessness crisis continues to deepen with the latest figures showing there are 9,872 in emergency accommodation.
Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the Department of Housing’s June Homeless figures prove the situation is getting worse with an additional 30 families in emergency accommodation.
Deputy Ó Broin said that despite a range of measures being taken by the Government there are still more homeless now that at this time last year.
He said: “The June 2018 figures released today show that the number of homeless individuals now stands at 9,872.
"This is an increase of 26 people on May 2018 and a yearly increase of 1,931. This is an annual increase of 24%.
“There are 28 more homeless adults than May 2018. There are now 6,048 homeless adults across the State.
"This represents an increase of 1,002 people on the same month last year. This is an increase of 20%.
“In June 2018 there were 30 additional homeless families in emergency accommodation.
"The number of families accessing emergency accommodations services in June was 1,754. This is 389 more families than same month last year. This is an increase of 22%.
“While the number of homeless children is down marginally on May 2018 by two to 3,824 this is still 929 additional children compared to June 2017. This is an increase of 32%.
“The crisis isn’t getting better no matter how many hubs are opened. Minister Murphy has been reluctant to take measure to keep people in their homes. This doesn’t necessarily mean more resources.
Focus Ireland said that new figures should not be seen as “normal” or used to justify a ‘business as usual’ response.
The charity said what while there is welcome progress in some areas the Government is still failing to do enough to ease the crisis.
The latest figures from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government reveal that 3,824 of the total number homeless are children (in 1,754 families).
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “We must never allow the constantly rising number of people becoming homeless each month to become the norm and there is a real risk that this is starting to happen.
"Only three years ago in June 2015, there were 1,318 children homeless."
This was seen as shocking at the time but the total has now trebled in only 3 years to a shameful 3,824. The number of families homeless has shot up by 170% in the same period from 650 in June 2015 to 1,754 in June 2018.
“In the last month 92 families in Dublin became newly homeless, this is the highest June figure ever recorded.”
