Ireland emergency housing figures hit 14,000

The figures, published by the Department of Housing, external, look at the amount of homeless people being housed in emergency accommodation and does not include rough sleepers, people in domestic violence shelters or those seeking asylum.

The figures show that 14,009 people were seeking accommodation in April – up 143 from March.

The data also showed that 1,996 families were in emergency accommodation in April, 15 more than the previous month.

In Dublin, the number of people in emergency accommodation is now 10,216.

Catherine Kenny, the chief executive of the Dublin Simon Community Centre, said she believes the increases are due to less people leaving emergency accommodation.

“This is leading to more congestion in an already gridlocked housing system,” she said.

Irish Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, said there was determination to deal with the homelessness issue.

He added that increasing housing supply “is the key to resolving the current crisis and it is the absolute focus of the government”.