Over €4.5 million has been spent on emergency accommodation for homeless people living in Dublin in the first half of this year, new figures have revealed.

The figures released to Fianna Fáil Councillor Daithí de Róiste by Dublin City Council show that in two years, the spend on emergency accommodation in Dublin rapidly rose from €455,736 to €5.4m last year.

A new record will be set again this year, with the spend exceeding €4.5m in the first half of the year alone.

Councillor de Róiste said the homeless crisis is being "totally mismanaged".

She said: "Before 2013, emergency accommodation would normally have been provided by housing agencies. But in the past two years the situation has become so grave that Dublin City Council has been forced to book entire hotels on a night by night basis to house homeless families. The Council has told me that this is 'not a suitable or sustainable solution' to the housing crisis in the capital.

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"At this rate given the monthly increase in homelessness in Dublin, more than €10m will be spent this year on emergency accommodation in the capital. This is a completely false economy. No one benefits from this highly temporary solution that leaves families with no idea where they will stay from night to night.

"Children are cooped up in totally unsuitable hotel rooms with no cooking or cleaning facilities, no outdoor space and often long distances from their schools. But without government support at a national level, the Council's hands are tied and all it can do is deal with the immediate nightly crisis.

"It's time to stop the empty promises, the platitudes and the false concern and start implementing national policy that will radically increase the availability of safe and suitable social housing in Dublin."

(CD/JP)