Today\u2019s record homeless numbers are another shameful milestone and an indictment of this government, 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 15,915 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of July. Shockingly, 4,958 of them are children. These record numbers are a shameful milestone for a government that continues to deprioritise 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
\u201cNow that the D\u00e1il is in recess, there\u2019s time to reflect on the performance of this government to date, and the picture is not pretty.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only did the department of housing tank shovel-ready social housing projects, it has gutted the Tenant in Situ scheme and made no attempt to adapt its policies in any meaningful way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s disgraceful that the Minister announced that 5,000 homeless children is an inevitability – the shameful lack of concern and courage in tackling one of society\u2019s most traumatic social issues is a damning indictment of this government’s approach to the housing emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday alone, there were two reports of landlords issuing invalid notices of termination and intimidating tenants to leave under duress – there is a clear culture in landlordism which has indifference at best and contempt at worst for tenants, seeing them as an inconvenience and an impediment to profit maximisation for landlords.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state could be facing a national redress scheme for children who have been in emergency accommodation – the government knows the deeply damaging impact any length of time in homelessness has on young people, yet it is not doing everything it can to prevent children from becoming homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese abject failures are intolerable and inexcusable \u2013 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
\u201cThese numbers are real families and real children experiencing serious trauma day in and day out \u2013 their plight cannot be ignored any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 25th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s record homeless numbers are another shameful milestone and an indictment of this government, 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 15,915 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of July. […]<\/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-13190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n