THE LATEST homeless report shows that there were 365 people homeless in Limerick in October – one for every day of the year.
The October 2022 Homeless Report, issued by the Department of Housing shows that national numbers in homelessness reach 11,397, the highest on record.
The Mid West figures represent five per cent of the overall homelessness in the country, counting 60 people being homeless in Clare.
In one week, between October 24 and 30, 98 families in Limerick and Clare had to turn to emergency accommodation.
96 of those were lone parent families and there were 136 adults and 194 children involved in having to seek an emergency roof over their heads.
The figures do not include people who have come here as refugees from Ukraine or other parts of the world.
In a statement on the figures, David Carroll, Chief Executive of charity Depaul, said: “Numbers in homelessness are now at unacceptable levels. Unfortunately these figures were predictable and expected – there is no longer a sense of shock and awe”.
“We saw a temporary hiatus in homelessness as a result of Covid but this was artificial. Depaul saw the signs as early as 2017 that serious action needed to be taken. We are now dealing with the consequences of not taking action early enough.
“Everything we talked about five years ago still strongly applies – we need a robust private sector, significant preventative measures, and more social housing supply particularly for specific vulnerable groups .”
