Immigration may be a factor in the continued rise in the number of homeless people in recent months despite increases in the amount of new social housing being delivered, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said.
People moving to Ireland from other European Union member states was one source of pressure on the housing market, with people leaving direct provision and entering emergency accommodation another, he suggested.
The number of homeless people reached yet another record of 14,429 in July, which included more than 4,000 children in over 2,000 families. The numbers represented an increase of 12.3 per cent year-on-year.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said in recent weeks there was a “peculiar situation” arising where the number of social homes being allocated was at the highest levels in decades, yet homelessness was still increasing.
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He said the Government was to examine how local authorities are allocating social housing to ensure enough priority is being given to individuals and families who are homeless.
Mr O’Brien was asked on Thursday whether any progress had been made on that issue as he made his way into the launch of the 2025 edition of the International Social Housing Festival (ISHF), which will take place at the Convention Centre in Dublin in June.
“There are many reasons [why the numbers are still rising],” he said. “Homelessness is a complex issue, and there are many reasons why people will enter into homelessness. It can be from relationship breakdown, to leaving the private rental market.
“One area that is very difficult to project into the future is new arrivals. We will look after anyone who comes into the country, but we have a lot of EU and non-EU arrivals that are looked after in emergency accommodation.
“People have free movement in the EU. This is separate to our response to the war in Ukraine and those seeking international protection. But we do have people who will move around the European Union and they don’t have secure housing when they come here, and the State does look after them.
“We are certainly seeing an increase in those numbers, both in terms of EU and non-EU, and that is something we are looking at very closely.
“We’ve seen an increase in people leaving direct provision – people who had status in direct provision and had accommodation – who are now coming into emergency accommodation.”
Mr O’Brien said the Government would deliver “towards 40,000 new homes” this year, which he pointed out was “a doubling of the housing output in three years”.
“A major challenge still remains,” he said. “What I want to assure people is that those who find themselves in a situation where they don’t have a home will be supported by the State in good quality emergency accommodation for as short a stay as possible.”
The ISHF event will bring 2,000 people together for discussions around international social and affordable housing projects.
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