The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, has said the housing crisis is driving people, mainly single parents and older men, out of the State.
Introducing the 1999 annual report of Crosscare, the social care agency of the Dublin archdiocese, he said yesterday this new trend had been noticed in the work of Emigrant Advice, one of Crosscare's agencies.
Ms Paula O'Sullivan of Emigrant Advice said: "Emigration is still a reality, and particularly for more vulnerable people. In one case we dealt with, a man in his 60s had to leave his mobile home because the new owners of the site closed it down during the winter. He had no alternative but to move abroad."
Dr Connell said it was "an unfortunate reflection on Irish society that in one of the most prosperous periods of our development, a number of our most vulnerable people should feel no option but to emigrate in search of a roof over their heads."
He said it was ironic that Ireland continued to experience a severe housing crisis. "This is reflected in the depressing statistics on homelessness, those living in hostels and bed-and-breakfast accommodation, the numbers of people in poor quality and substandard housing, the growing numbers of young married couples who find themselves unable to afford to buy a first home.
"It is also being reflected in the numbers of people who are leaving Ireland to travel abroad in order to acquire accommodation."
He also spoke about "the growing and serious problem" of drug misuse. In this vacuum, it is not surprising that some become behaviourally difficult, or that others revert to using drugs," he said.
Dr Connell appealed for generosity in this weekend's annual collection, an important source of funding for Crosscare.
