Majority of emergency homeless accommodation full or under major pressure

Almost all emergency homeless accommodation in the State is full or under major pressure, figures given privately to Ministers show.

A memo for Cabinet outlining the rationale for the winter ban on evictions shows that emergency accommodation in 19 of the 31 local authority areas is “at capacity”, with the four Dublin local authorities having been “at capacity at times over the summer and in the last number of weeks”.

The situation in Dublin was so pressured, according to the papers drawn up for Cabinet, that people seeking emergency accommodation were sent to surrounding local authorities in Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.

Ministers were told on Tuesday that a further three were “at risk” of reaching capacity, with the remaining five relying on private accommodation which they are struggling to source due to the demands placed on the system from accommodating Ukranians and others seeking asylum in Ireland.

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Figures shown to the Cabinet illustrate the extreme pressure across the system. They show that family homelessness in the Dublin region – where 70 per cent of homelessness occurs – caused by people being forced from rental properties has more than doubled in a year.

The statistics for Dublin show that in the second quarter of last year, 52 families entered emergency accommodation from the private rental sector, equivalent to 19 per cent of the total number of families admitted. For the same period this year, that jumped to 46 per cent, or 98 families. Recent figures indicate this continued to grow, with 55 per cent of families entering into emergency accommodation in August from private rentals.

The figures for families are not available at national level but an overall picture is for adults – single or those in families. There are significant numbers who had to leave rental properties in the period from February to August this year, ranging from 44 per cent in Dublin and the midwest region to 6 per cent in the northwest. Overall, 40 per cent of adults entering emergency accommodation during the period came from private rental accommodation.

The figures given to Ministers date from September.

Statistics also show the prevalence of migrants presenting to emergency accommodation, with Ministers told an “emerging trend shows an increased number of migrants presenting to homeless services”.

In August, 63 per cent of adults in emergency accommodation were Irish; 21 per cent from the European Economic Area (EAA) or UK; and 16 per cent from outside the EEA. Among single adults newly presenting in the four Dublin regions in the same month, 54.5 per cent were Irish; 23 per cent from the EU or EEA; and 22 per cent from non-EU jurisdictions.

The length of time in the country is not a barrier to seeking emergency accommodation and most people who seek it are typically admitted, Ministers were told. Exit options for non-Irish in emergency accommodation are “severely limited”, according to the briefing, as some EEA migrants will be eligible for social housing but others won’t – and those from non-EEA countries typically aren’t eligible for social housing for three years.