Focus Ireland Report 67 Families Became Homeless In Dublin In October

Focus Ireland reported today that 67 families became newly homeless in October and were referred to its family services in Dublin.

The charity issued the figures as the Dublin Region Homeless Executive report that the total number of people who are homeless in Dublin has shot up by 35% in the last year. The DRHE figures show that there were a total of 5,146 adults and children in emergency accommodation last month, a 35% increase in the year.

Mike Allen, Focus Ireland Director of Advocacy said: “It is terrible to see that during the last year the number of children who are homeless and living in emergency accommodation in Dublin has increased by 57% from 1343 to 2,110.  Christmas should be one of the happiest times of year for children and their families. However, it truly awful to realise that over 2,500 children will be homeless in Ireland on Christmas day this year.  This is wrong and it is totally unacceptable.”

Mr. Allen went on to highlight that in a time of such crisis it can be hard to remember that the situation could be much worse as he said: “We are proud to say that the first 10 months of the year, Focus Ireland has supported 230 families (with 450 children) to move out of homelessness into secure homes (in partnership with the DRHE and local authorities). However, as at least two families are still becoming homeless every single day the crisis continues to deepen.”

The charity said that while much good work is being done to prevent families from becoming homeless constantly rocketing rents and a growing number of buy-to-let homes being either repossessed or sold is causing a constant rise in the numbers being forced into homelessness. Focus Ireland renewed its call for urgent action from the Government to stem the level of evictions, particularly from ‘buy-to-let’ landlords to stem the homeless crisis.

Mr. Allen said: “There are over 15,000 buy-to-let landlords who are in arrears by over 2 years. Banks and financial institutions are repossessing these homes and evicting the tenants at a rate of 100 a month. We are calling on the Government to outlaw this practice and ensure that that where banks repossess such properties they sell them on with the tenant still in place.”   Meanwhile, Focus Ireland said it relies on donations at this time of year more than ever to raise vital funds for its work. The charity appealed to people to please give what they can afford to support its urgent Christmas appeal.  People can donate at  focusireland.ie or 1850 204 205.

Contact: Michelle Moran: 086 468 0442

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