A total of 297 people from Dublin and Meath have been removed from the April Homelessness Report.

The Housing Minister published the report today, 31 May, which revealed that 9,652 people were reported homeless.

The overall number is down 0.2% from the March report, but has increased 25% from April of last year.

Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD hit out at Minister Eoghan Murphy over the figures.

He said: "If the 297 people who were removed from the figures were taken into account there has been an annual increase of 30% and a monthly increase of 3%.

"So the Minister isn't making any progress in tackling this homeless issue. It's nearly a year since he assumed the role and manipulating the figures is about all he has achieved. Removing 297 people from the figures does not hide the fact that the government is failing miserably to deal with the housing crisis."

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Commenting on the figures Minister Murphy said: "The report for April shows a reduction in the number of adults and families accessing emergency accommodation, which is welcome. I have said before that monthly reporting makes it difficult to identify any developing trends at an early stage, but from these figures it would seem that the presentation of new families in to emergency accommodation is stabilising. That said, while the number of families in emergency accommodation is down this month, a small number of families with a large number of children did present, meaning that the number of dependents has risen by 43."

The Minister identified the movement in and out of emergency accommodation as a challenge, stating that two reports were being prepared to improve their response to this crisis. He also outlined measures aimed at homeless individuals who sleep rough or use emergency accommodation on a long-term basis.

(CM/MH)