Homelessness figures: Govt not delivering on housing

Reacting to the official homelessness figures for October which have just been released, Labour spokesperson on Housing, Jan O’Sullivan T.D, said:

“For the first time ever, we now have over 10,500 people homeless in Ireland, a record high.

“This latest consecutive rise in the total figures shows yet again that the Government’s housing strategy is failing to tackle this crisis with the urgency that’s so clearly required.

“Tonight’s figures also show a small drop in the number of families and children in emergency accomodation.

“While any decrease is to be welcomed, the reality is that 3,826 children and 1,733 families are without a home in this State.

“That is simply not acceptable.

“As everyone knows at this stage we are not in a normal situation when it comes to housing, we are in an emergency, and it needs to be treated as such.

“We need to see publicly owned land used to build social and affordable housing straight away.

“We also need rents to be capped in a bid to ease the burden on renters, many of whom are ending up in an emergency accommodation situation.

“A lot of these people are people who are at work, who would normally be able to afford their own home, but are trapped in a rental sector that is out of control.

“Tonight the Dail will vote on a motion of no confidence in the Housing Minister, which my party will support.

“It is not about one person but about the ten thousand plus people, including nearly four thousand children, who are tonight without a secure roof over their heads.”