The homelessness crisis shows no signs of abating, with new data from the Department of Housing shows that the number of homeless people in Ireland has reached almost 8,000.
Worryingly, there are now almost 3,000 children in Ireland with no homes to go to.
In June of this year, 1,365 families with 2,895 children were staying in emergency accommodation. There were 118 more children homeless than in May.
“While the overall numbers in emergency accommodation showed an increase during June, progress is being made in relation to moving families out of hotels / B&Bs,” the report reads.
“At the end of March, a total of 870 homeless families were housed in commercial hotels and B&Bs in the Dublin Region; at the end of June this figure had fallen to 638”.
68 percent of homeless people are living in Dublin where there is a severe shortage of rental properties and rents have soared. The majority of homeless families were in the Dublin area, with 1,115 families presenting as homeless there.
June Tinsley from Barnardos has said she believes the figures could rise even higher if the Government do not take further action in tackling the homelessness crisis.
"Barnardos are definitely disappointed with the figures, they just keep on going up and up," she told The Irish Examiner. "We are now at 2,985 children who are homeless.
"The numbers of families and children coming into homelessness is far greater than those who are exiting and that is because of the lack of affordable, rentable property.
She went on to say the lack of social housing for families also needed to be tackled or the "crisis will continue to escalate."
For now, many homeless families are being housed in family hubs, which are group homes for the homeless, according to The Journal.
A number of hubs are already operational in Dublin, with a total of 18 planned for the city.
There are plans to house 634 families in these hubs while further funds have been committed to developing more.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that over 2,560 children are without a home, and living in emergency accommodation, which was at the time, the highest level of child homelessness ever recorded in Ireland.
It is deeply concerning to see these figures continue to rise with more children than ever missing out on the stability, safety and comfort of a family home.
