SIXTY-six families with 127 children were homeless in the Mid-West in April this year, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing.
There were 89 adults, 43 of these single-parent families, homeless in the region during April.
The total number of children homeless across the State came to 3,689.
“While homeless figures for April show a very slight decrease they are still alarmingly high but the most concerning aspect is the increase in the number of children who are without a home. This is a scandal,” Labour Party Housing spokesperson, Jan O’Sullivan said.
“These children are in truly precarious situations, along with their families in many cases with nowhere to play, far from their friends and school and filled with an anxiety about the future that no child should have to endure.”
These figures, Deputy O’Sullivan insists, brings more urgency to the need to implement the kind of measures she presented on behalf of the Labour Party to the Dáil last week to prevent families from losing their homes and also to see the Government progress the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill which would ensure the needs of children whose families are homeless are addressed.
“As we shine a light on the wrongs done to children in the past, we must find real solutions to the plight of the children of the present whose lives are blighted by being homeless,” she concluded.
Commenting on the figures, Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, said: “The report for April shows a reduction in the number of adults and families accessing emergency accommodation, which is welcome. I have said before that monthly reporting makes it difficult to identify any developing trends at an early stage, but from these figures, it would seem that the presentation of new families into emergency accommodation is stabilising.
“That said, while the number of families in emergency accommodation is down this month, a small number of families with a large number of children did present, meaning that the number of dependents has risen by 43.”
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