Today\u2019s record numbers are a direct result of failed government policies, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne made his comments as a new record high for homelessness was confirmed this afternoon:<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s figures show there were 15,580 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of April. Shockingly, 4,775 of them are children. These record numbers are a shameful milestone for a government that never prioritised homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese numbers are the direct result of policy choices made by the government. This is what happens when you do not protect vulnerable renters, or prevent them from becoming homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report comes as hundreds of homes planned for Dublin\u2019s homeless are in jeopardy as a tender to manage them has attracted no bids, and, to add salt to the wound, an investment fund is receiving rent of \u20ac2 million per year from Dublin City Council for a vacant hostel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese abject failures are intolerable and inexcusable – rising levels of homelessness will continue to outpace any social and affordable housing delivery from the State unless there is a radical shift in government policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only action the Minister for Housing and this government has taken on homelessness since its reelection is to implement measures that are making homelessness worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cFailing to take an interventionist approach in coordinating a national emergency response to homelessness across all local authorities, destroying the Tenant in Situ Scheme, and threatening to end rent caps have collectively pushed more and more people into homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a 47% increase in the number of families presenting as homeless in the last three years. In 2022, 2,734 families presented as homeless to local authorities, while in 2024 that number increased to 4,026 families.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were 966 families, including 2,000 children who had spent over 12 months in emergency accommodation in the first quarter of this year, a 171% increase on that number three years prior – almost 1,000 of those children had spent over two years without a proper home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government\u2019s Housing for All planning has been a shameful disgrace in terms of who it has allowed to fall into homelessness – an increase of 84% are without a home since the beginning of the initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese numbers are real families and real children experiencing serious trauma day in and day out – their plight cannot be ignored any longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s figures don\u2019t capture the true scale of homelessness – there are tens of thousands of people living in hidden homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government must reverse the gutting policy changes made to the Tenant in Situ Scheme and re-instate its full funding – it is appalling that one of the most effective anti-homelessness tools available to local authorities has been torn to shreds.\u201d<\/p>\n
30th May, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s record numbers are a direct result of failed government policies, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne made his comments as a new record high for homelessness was confirmed this afternoon: \u201cToday\u2019s figures show there were 15,580 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of April. Shockingly, 4,775 of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n