FIGURES from the government’s latest report on homelessness show that there are now 442 adults accessing emergency accommodation in Limerick — the highest ever number noted on Shannonside since the State began.
These stark figures include 110 children and 191 families.
The figures show that 14,029 people are now living in emergency accommodation across Ireland, including 4,401 children.
Limerick Labour councillor Conor Sheehan has slammed what he deems the government’s ongoing failure to tackle the homelessness crisis, following the publication of the stark figures.
“With the new school year beginning, it is utterly heartbreaking to think of the 4,401 children in Limerick and across the country who are heading back to school while living in emergency accommodation,” Cllr Sheehan told the Limerick Post.
“This stark reality underscores the abject failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to address the housing crisis.”
Cllr Sheehan said “it is shocking that in 2024 we are witnessing hundreds of children in Limerick and thousands nationwide in emergency accommodation”.
“The government’s failure is plain to see. It is now almost three years since the launch of the Housing for All plan, and it has failed on every metric.
“House prices are up, homelessness is up, and evictions are up. How can we accept that so many children in our community are being denied the basic right to a stable home?”
He went on to point to Labour’s proposed increased State involvement in housing delivery, including allocating an additional €1.45billion in capital for housing delivery, which he said would “protect renters, end speculative land hoarding, and double the State’s delivery of cost rental and affordable housing”.
“We can see on the ground in Limerick that the Government’s housing policy has failed miserably, leaving thousands of families, and especially children, in dire situations.
“This government has shown itself incapable of tackling this crisis. We need a new government with the will and the vision to address housing for everyone in emergency accommodation, but especially for the 4,401 children who deserve so much better. The children of Limerick and across the nation cannot afford to wait any longer,” he concluded.
