TD for Louth and East Meath Gerry Adams hit out at the government after figures revealed a dramatic rise in homelessness in the area.
He said: "There are now 155 adults accessing emergency accommodation. Of these, 147 are in Louth, five in Monaghan, and three in Cavan.
"There has also been a substantial increase in the number of dependents in homelessness in the North East. In January 2017, there were 16 families, six of whom were single parents and 24 dependents (children) in emergency accommodation. One year later, the numbers have surged. There are now 52 families homeless, of whom 31 are single parents, and a total of 101 dependents (children).
-- Advertisement --
"As we face into a severe weather situation, it is important that we look beyond the statistics and see the men and women and children, who are affected by government failure on housing. Across the state, there is now a record number of adults and children living in emergency accommodation.
"In January 2017, there were 4760 adults in emergency accommodation and 2407 children. A year later those numbers have jumped to 5837 adults and 3,267 children. That means 9,104 people are homeless which is an increase of 30% since January 2017.
"This is the unacceptable face of government policy. Its housing strategy is simply not working. And the situation is getting worse.
"Action is needed, for example, to confront landlords issuing vacant possession notices to quit when selling their property. A greater effort is required to purchase turnkey homes, not for sale on the open market, to get families out of emergency accommodation. The government also needs to adopt far more ambitious Housing First targets. Under Rebuilding Ireland, only 200 additional Housing First tenancies have been created."
(CD/MH)
