More than 300 adults homeless in Limerick, new report shows

A NEW report has revealed nearly 400 people accessed emergency accommodation across the Mid-West during a single week in August.

That is according to a report released, on Friday evening, by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Between August 22 and August 28, 391 homeless adults accessed local authority managed emergency accommodation in Limerick and Clare. 

According to the report, 327 sought emergency accommodation in Limerick, while 64  accessed it in Clare. It also shows that out of the 391 homeless people, 245 were men, while 146 were women.

Published on a monthly basis, the statistics refer to the number of homeless people accommodated in emergency accommodation which are funded by housing authorities. The reports refer to a specific count week, usually the last full week of the month.

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For the Mid-West region, 85 families are included in the report’s data, more than half of which are single parent families with a total of 158 child dependents.

Nationally, the number of people in emergency accommodation in August was a record 10,805 - up by more than 200 on the July figure of 10,568.

Noting the increased numbers of homeless people in Limerick, Sinn Féin Limerick TD Maurice Quinlivan has called for the introduction of a winter ban on evictions.

"With social housing targets not being met and more single property landlords leaving the market, we are fast approaching an official homeless figure of 11,000 across the state," he said.

Mr Quinlivan said that the Minister for Housing Daragh O’Brien must immediately introduce a winter ban on evictions, and follow the lead of Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who recently introduced a similar ban earlier this month.  

"The Minister also needs to accelerate the tenant-in-situ scheme to prevent more families becoming homeless and increase and accelerate the delivery of social homes," he concluded.