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THERE ARE CLOSE to 2,800 children homeless in Ireland, latest figures show.
The figures for homeless people staying in emergency in May were released today, showing a small rise in the numbers of homeless families and children.
In total, there were 1,312 families with 2,777 children homeless staying in emergency accommodation in May.
This marks a small rise of 69 children from the numbers from April.
There were 4,922 homeless adults in emergency accommodation in May, a small drop on the previous month.
Of the homeless families, 647 were accommodated in commercial hotels and B&Bs in the Dublin region. This marks a drop from the 871 in similar accommodation in March.
Commenting on the figures, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said that the number of families in hotels was “of course too many” and that officials were continuing “to deal with an emergency situation”.
He commended people who have been working in homelessness and housing services for the work they have done.
“The importance of their efforts is even more revealing when we look at the number of new families who presented as homeless during this time.
Roughly six hundred did. Half of these families were able to be kept from entering hotels thanks to their work, while the other half has been supported by our agencies in commercial hotels and B&Bs.
Sinn Féin spokesperson for housing Eoin Ó Broin strongly criticised the Government for “utterly failing” to assist homeless families.
“For every family that exits homelessness another is there to take its place,” he said.
This is down to the government failing to get to grips with the scale of the problem and failing to introduce measures aimed at keeping families in their homes.
Anthony Flynn – CEO of community group Inner City Helping Homeless – said the figures were “an unrealistic representation of the problem”.
He said that crisis in homelessness was “far worse than indicated”.
“The previous minister’s promise to end the use of hotel/B&B style accommodation has completely failed, unrealistic targets were set and now it’s time to return to the drawing board,” said Flynn.
Family Hubs
Earlier this month, Murphy confirmed that a deadline set by his predecessor Simon Coveney to have all families out of commercial hotels by July would not be met.
Commenting today, he said that the Dublin local authorities and the Housing Department had “redoubled our efforts” to ensure that all of the families in commercial hotels at the end of May would have a pathway out of them.
A big part of this plan is the family hub model of group homes for homeless families.
“Family hubs are an important first response for families who become homeless and who have no alternative other than commercial hotels,” said Murphy.
Hotels are not the answer and hubs will provide more appropriate and suitable accommodation for families.
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Come on lads. Let’s jump on the free house bandwagon.
@P C: that might have made sense 10 years ago when there was actually some free houses to give out.
@P C: Rents continuing to raise as do car premiums, no wonder some families simply can’t cope anymore. While I’m sure there are some taking an advantage, I don’t think it’s appropriate to brand all of them as above. In all fairness, when was the last time certain commenters with all their pitchforks were living of off minimum wage I wonder?
@P C: hey P C, what’s your view on the people who died in the Glenfell tower fire and the people who were made homeless.
@Diogenes: PC is a guy who “loves” foetuses but he has no time for homeless children ..#loveboats
@Francis Mc Carthy: either he’s a troll or a heartless fool.
@P C: Her we go again. The “free house” slander from the Fraperoom. Hates on a not guilty verdict on the Jobstown debacle. And not a shread of human empathy for homeless children.
What a wonderful example of neoliberalism.
My child has a home. I provide it. I go to work and pay for not only my home but for others who choose not to work and provide homes for their own children. My wife and I pay a second mortgage amount for child care also, to scan through Irish media you would never think we are a part of an outraged majority. Stop this madness and report how taxpayers feel, people who pay mortgages and taxes to fund all the scroungers.
@Karl Alldritt: dovyou really think your taxes alone are keeping the country afloat.
@P C: wonder would U say it to any of these peoples faces? I’m sure we could set it up somehow
@P C: btw U don’t get anything for free in this country for free its rip off central here having your head up your arse U wouldn’t know
@Karl Alldritt: So Karl in your world am I a scrounger? I’ve an autistic son and I worked my ass off for 30+ years to keep a roof over our heads. I paid taxes & extortionate childcare while I worked full time to look after him. I was unlucky enough to have an accident that left me permanently disabled a few years ago. Every hard earned penny of my savings is long gone – providing private specialist care that the HSE refuse to fund tends to eat up every cent. Besides coping with deteriorating medical issues & the constant challenges of a young autistic adult, I have the extra stress of being 30 days away from being homeless every single day of the week. I’d swap places with you any day.
And of course these “new homeless” will instantly take any social housing that becomes available in Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford etc etc and not make any demands. Because they’re such humble people….
@Fred Jensen: When I was buying a house the prices in Dublin were crazy. I had a huge deposit but that only goes so far when the average house price is almost 300k. I decided to move to Edgeworthstown which is an hour from Dublin- direct via the N4 and M4. Large town here and it is served by Irish Rail which stops about 12 times a day. Moral of the story is to think outside the box. I own my house here. Big 3 bedroom in a nice estate. Didn’t have to even touch the banks :) Now I live mortgage free. Tis no desolate sh$$th0le as Patrick has mentioned.
@Patrick McCann: If that is the case what is the point in getting a mortgage and all the sacrifices that go with paying a mortgage????
@Patrick McCann: how did you get “shit” through the filter?
@Patrick McCann: where is this desolation s@@thole you speak of???? There’s far more s@@tholes in Dublin city than anywhere else in the country! Sick of ‘city’ lovers thinking there’s no place like that kip we are forced to call our capital! It’s a kip!
@Robbie Farquharson: its 1hr 52 by car from Edgeworthstown to Grand Canal Docks and 2hr 30 by train according to Google Maps. I’m sure it is a lovely place but most people wouldn’t fancy tagging that extra time into their daily commute.
@Sean: Google does the same for me until I done the search as Bracklin park, Edgeworthstown to Finglas (which is what suits me). I do the journey by car in one hour. No R roads. The train is timetabled at 1hr 24 from Irish Rail website. There are jobs here too. Most work in the area or drive 25kms to Mullingar.
No one wants to work anymore just get it handed to them
@al: You’re moral ground is so high I’m just amazed that you have oxygen to breathe up there.
@al: sure its as handy to have a child before you can take care of it, then the state has to look after you….
Such a joke
@al: you have a very blinkered view on things. For a start with the cost of child care in Dublin means that alot of single mothers would be making a loss if they were working. And even if they do decide to work how exactly would you expect a single mother to afford both childcare and rent? Understandably, some single mothers do make an income where they can support themselves and their child/children but the vast majority can’t.
Another point to note would be enough is not being invested in social services to assist those who come from social disadvantaged backgrounds. A common statement that many spew out is we are all born equal, we are not. Take a sprint race for example, in life being faster than the person beside is not good enough because often in life the person standing beside you is given a head start because of the family they were born into.
Maybe listen to some of the people who are homeless and see how their lives differ to yours. Not everyone has a family support to fall back on or a home house big enough for them to practically stay in with the rest of the family.
When it comes to stats the current government can show alot of the positive work they have done but when it comes to the standard of living in this country they have alot to answer for
@John S: that’s a very weak attempt at trolling. Try harder next time. You can do better than that.
I am interested in knowing the profile of these families are they all Irish or what or are they coming from other countries and claiming homelessness there is a lot more to this and we deserve to know. I appreciate this government has done nothing only talk the talk on the crisis but lets consider the possibilities of the percentage of people who could not afford to come to Ireland to set up home and work to support themselves. When I went to London many years ago I had to pay for rent, food and transport to and from my job if I did not pay or could not pay I had to leave. Before any gets one becomes hysterical I live in a three bed-roomed two bath-roomed house with garden surrounded by very amenity you could possibly need and want. It is a local authority house seven years ago I tried to down size so I approached the LA they said they could not find any where for me surprisingly they managed to find places for other people and again they were not Irish. Please bear in mind land lords and banks make copious amounts of cash tax payers cash out of this crisis End of rant
@Noreen Waters: plenty of Irish people in social housing in the UK, we were a young Tipperary family living in the UK and lived in a flat in a large council estate and there were many other Irish families living in the estate too. What difference does it make what nationality these people are?
@Noreen Waters: 50% of those on the housing list are foreign nationals. The Fine Gaelers on here were telling us about all the doctors we had to take in. Apparently these doctors dont want to buy their own home.
Basically they want cheap labour in their factories (go to any food production factory and see) paid for by the Irish middle class and working class. We then supplement the incomes of the foreign nationals by way of medical cards, council housing or housing assistance payments, and financial income support.
They’ll never tell you how much it costs the State for every “new Irish”. They make claims about foreign nationals “paying their way” in tax, forgetting to mention the vast vast majority are working zero hour contracts, and pay zero in tax, and have to have their income supplemented. Sure, we have a handful of qualified professionals who buck the trend. But they are the exception that proves the rule.
@Noreen Waters: I don’t know anyone is homeless so I can’t really talk about it. However an estate near me was bought up and given to homeless people. Most of the houses have 2 cars newer than the 1 we own.
How many landlords do you know well enough to know their finances? I know a few and they lost a lot of money got into more debt. The government takes more than half the rent and they are subsidising the tenants. So they aren’t making copious amounts of money.
@Good Early: pointing to a source would add some credibility to such statements..
@Good Early: source please, because I cannot find anything remotely supportive of your assertion.
@Patrick Cat: Somebody posted an article about it from none other than The Journal itself. Cant find now. Check yourself. Just found these two. The Journal definitely done an article on it too.
http://www.kierandennison.com/2010/02/half-on-social-housing-list-are-foreign.html
http://www.herald.ie/news/over-half-on-housing-list-are-foreign-27973856.html
@Paul Fahey: It certainly does make a huge difference to me. I’m fed up bailing out our own without adding others to my tax bill
@Good Early: that does not say 50% of all social housing occupants are foreign nationals, it says 40% of the list in Fingal are, but he dies not provide any proof. Perhaps you can try again to provide a source for your assertion.
@Paul Fahey: The Herald states: “MORE than half of the applicants for council homes in north Dublin are from abroad, new figures show.”
http://www.herald.ie/news/over-half-on-housing-list-are-foreign-27973856.html
Heading out shortly. Will try to find The Journal article for you
@Noreen Waters: You worked and paid your keep in London but moved home for and took social housing? you had already proven that you could work and pay rent to a private landlord elsewhere, why not in your home country?
@Christopher Treacy: So you thing the numbers have gone down since then?
@Christopher Treacy: I was watching the Dail one day, not 7 years but maybe about two. Joan Burton was asked for a breakdown of people on housing list according to Nationality, and she said that the “that data is not recorded”.
She was challenged that it is recorded, as an applicants nationality is one the first questions of the form. She then said she’d look it to it. Was never spoken of again.
If they true extent of the problem was known I dont the Irish would take to kindly to it. Being told there’s no money for this and that, yet were housing thousands of foreign nationals each year under the guise of various housing schemes.
@Good Early: Any data from 1997 mate, your source is way too recent.. Also, need i remind you what the state of the Irish economy was like 7 years ago? I’m guessing that quite a few people have since moved on, found jobs, bought houses, moved to other countries etc. Your are pretty much making shit up based on outdated articles.
@Good Early: ‘Sure, we have a handful of qualified professionals who buck the trend. But they are the exception that proves the rule.’ Entire industries in Ireland depend of foreign workforce, from IT to pharma. In 2014-15 the ICT sector had a 35 per cent share of foreign workers, it has probably increased since. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
@Danny foley: the Herald is about as reputable a source as a late night tweet from the Man with the tiny hands!
@Lizzy Hennessy: Beaumont
That’s a 1000 euro buggy in the photo…
@Sinead Mooney: and that is a library photo and are unlikely to be a homeless family.
@Sinead Mooney: It’s a stock photo Sinead, it doesn’t mean the people portrayed are homeless.
@molly coddled: so why use it then???
@Sinead Mooney: Lol Sinead, back to bed for you.
@P C: laziness on behalf of the journalist, the use of stock photos seens to be pretty standard practice on this site.
@molly coddled: Got to love the way people are waiting to pounce though. Same crew as usual.
@Catherine Sims: the crew that won’t be hoodwinked by the leftist crap.
@Sinead Mooney: I know it’s a stock photo… sarcasm doesn’t translate well here
@Sinead Mooney: It came across as more caustic than sarcastic.
@Sinead Mooney: did you simply not give an opinion on the cost of a buggy? I agree I reckon easily a grand and it’s a while since I bought one.
@Catherine Sims: true words, why they need to is beyond me.
I’d like to see a break down of the circumstances as to why all the see people declared themselves homeless and I’m also wondering how many have refused a house already ?
@molly coddled: sarcaustic perhaps, a new word is born
And how many people and families have been affected by the complete lack of mental health services, disability services and health services in general in this time frame??? Can the journal get stats on this?
Sick listening to the homeless crisis, there is houses, just not up the road from your ma or your mates. If the council changed requirements to preferences for over crowding, suddenly there would be a lot less homeless.
There are probably thousands more who are homeless but earn too much to be a ” homeless”statistic. Bunking in with their parents etc because they can no longer afford rent, childcare, tax bill on their “first step in the property ladder”. Still waiting for a tiny bit of equity so they can start on square one again.
@MiniS: but nobody cares about the squeezed middle, they don’t have the time or energy to go moaning to a leftie td or to the council daily as they are working hard, attempting to save, spend time with their kids etc. It’s not as attractive to the media
So Coveney’s walked away from another la-la land ‘target’ missed into a nicer, higher profile ministerial pension (oops I mean of course job).
@Gerry Carroll:
He will only get one ministerial pension.
Typical lack of key information from the journal. What was the status of these 600 families before March?
The blueshirts are out in force today.
@ray.farrelly:
So I am a blue shirt for looking for some facts. More like the idiots are out in force today
@ray.farrelly: fact is that if you go homeless you go further up the list for a house. Going homeless for many is seen as a career move!
@ray.farrelly:
Spot on Ray.. the same group all band together..we all know who they are and the type of useless mean spirited filth they espouse
@ray.farrelly: Their a funny bunch Ray. Entertaining.See no evil, hear no evil, speak bullsh*t.Everyone else’s fault.God love them….
@Turlough O’ Connor:
How is it mean spirited filth asking for some facts?
@Horses for courses:
Yeah they’re are a funny bunch. Imaging looking for some facts before they form their own opinion rather than following the sheep
@ray.farrelly:
25% of voters went for the blueshirts in the last election, almost double the number that went for your own favourites, SF.
Their entitled to be heard.
Personally, I think only a massive programme of social and affordable house building will make any difference.
@Nick Allen: That’s precisely why the Blueshirt crew are a funny crowd Nick. The country is in bits but in their eyes everything is rosy in the garden. Corruption riddled from the top down with no accountability. Housing, Health and law are disgraceful for what we put into them.Any word on the Moriarty?
Shameful what we have let happen to this country.Great country for wasting money. It’s become an accepted norm…..
@Horses for courses:
My comment was looking for some facts that would make the article much more useful. I didn’t comment on whether the country is in a good place or a bad place nor did I say there wasn’t waste or corruption in the country. All I asked for were some facts. The usual idiots that don’t have the intellectual ability to form a opinion on their own then jump on the band wagon saying I am a blue shirt. No wonder the country is in a mess when these people have a vote
@Nick Allen:
To the journal,
At least you changed the article to remove the bias and work with the facts you have rather than the clickbait but surely you have a professional responsibility to reference the fact that you have changed the article and as such not all the comments are as appropriate as they may have been when they were posted.
@Nick Allen: You’re a perfect example of a sheep.
@Dave Doyle:
How is that? Because I have my own opinion? Go give me an example, are you just another one of these posters that can’t back anything up with any evidence and just try to post something to be popular. The muppets are really out in force today
@Dave Doyle: by asking questions? How is he a sheep?
@lavbeer:
Thank you !
@Nick Allen: Ask why social housing isn’t being built. The Cabras, Driminaghs, Ballyfermots, Crumlins. All those houses built for those living in tenement conditions and hadn’t the jobs of money to afford their own homes.
My mother was one of those, 18 yrs on the housing list while a family of 5 kids and parents lived in three rooms and shared an outside toilet with those who lived above. My mother paid rent on the house, a S/H one that needer refurbishment which we did ourselves. My father went into hospital when i was 13 and came out in a coffin. I was in school, i took a job after school and at 16, two days after finishing the inter cert i was pushed into a job because the family needed money. Did i mention my mother had to find work when my father went into hospital. She started at 6.30am in the morning, so being the eldest i was responsible for getting my younger siblings washed, fed and ready for school.
I get angry reading shills with the mantra of “Free Homes” there’s no such thing. Shills who will never know a hungry or homeless day in their lives.
Social housing was a public service. Under neoliberalism, public services must go, the taxes stay, but the services go. Neoliberal housing policies have directly resulted in the housing and unaffordable rent problem. Not people looking for ” Free Houses”.
@Dave Doyle:
Fair play to you going through that and coming out the other side. That takes a lot of hard work. My upbringing wasn’t awash with cash but equally it was a lot easier than yours and I was afforded more opportunities than you (I suspect).
I may be classified as a Neo liberal or blue shirt on here but my personal politics is a lot more left than that. I am fortunate to have a good job and earn good money and is really annoys me when I see such waste in the country and also so many people taking the p1ss. There are genuine cases and I have absolutely no issue with paying my tax and the government providing social housing and also a good social welfare system.
Society today has too many people at the extremes. A balance is required
The government didnt give a s#it before and still dont give a s#it now. There is a push to build housing because our north African friends are coming in their thousands. Merkels orders. Also according to Spascal theres enough jobs for everyone. You can read these pri%ks like a book.
4 years ago i proposed a negative equity write down scheme inversely weighted to income to fine gael- no response and fianna fail- did respond but no change yet to keep people in their homes but noonan gave all the write downs to foreign vulture funds
goverment has spoiled them since birth now they dont want to work just get free hand outs for everything not all of them but most of them
HOW MANY MEMBERS OF PRESENT DAIL ARE LANDLORDS???????????
@Sean Callan:
How many people voted for them knowing full well they were landlords?
@Sean Callan: I think about a third. Not sure why you have to SHOUT or what relevance you feel it has.
Among these figures It’s fair to say that there are some total chancers playing with the rules of the system to get away with this carry on. But why wouldn’t they if the system is set up for them to take advantage?
@Joseph Bloggs: A friend works in a Dublin hotel that provides homeless accommodation. Said some of the “homeless” residents did not stay there at night, they go home to their families but take hotel rooms so they can jump up the housing list. The owner turns a blind eye as they are making thousands a week in income.
@Mary Grethan: Once you stay for a night in a home that belongs to either family or friends, you’re removed from the housing list.
@Joseph Bloggs: So why aren’t you doing it if it’s such an enterprise!!!
@Robbie Farquharson: because I would rather work hard for what I own.
Handouts are not the answer.
More Social housing is not the answer, it is a bandaid on a broken limb.
More government investment in programs that get people workin and paying tax will benefit this country and its citizens.
@Mary Grethan: its great that your friend has the time to be noseyin in bothers business but this is exactly what the gov’t wants for people to be turning on each other so that the spotlight is off themselves congrats congratulations
How did they become homeless….
@Paul:
Usually because the landlord or his bank want to sell the property
@P.J. Nolan: or usually because they are defaulting on ridiculous loans they were allowed to acquire which were 10/15 times their annual salary!
@SBK:
That certainly did happen. The section I would have the most sympathy for are the ones who done everything right but still lost one or maybe both jobs.
Lets keep that recovery going Enda.
@Stephen Maher: well Ireland has the fastest growing economy in Europe. Well done Enda.
@P C: The fastest with the lowest wages highest prices for just about everything working people can’t afford a house having to rely on state aid family income support the Red Cross should be called in at least they will help people unlike the government no matter who’s in power yeah thanks Enda
@P C:
Thanks to the people who get on with business and work hard to create that growth.
It has fek all to do with politicians.
Nissan huts were used after the last war as they could be put up quickly for people made homeless because they were bombed out of their homes. I think one of the Scandinavian countries has made a similar but more modern home. Think Ikea. But property still had to be looked after and maintained otherwise there were plenty of people who could.
Or Grand Designs in the U.K. followed a housing association of people helped by councils to build their own property. There were limits and everyone had to contribute.
I keep hearing that non nationals get more benefits and help than nationals which seems quite racial if true?
It’s been going on for years that non nationals get more that the Irish,people where called racist when they said it to shut them up there’s a new council estate in Mulhuddart just under the bridge just up from the chipper about 20 houses theirs about three Irish families in the estate how are non nationals getting houses when you have Irish families on the list a lot longer .Im just waiting to be called a racist by all the pc heads in the sand fools
Now we see why coveney jumped ship, a failure.
Figures have been awful for too long but looking at the reports in the link there were 1256 families homeless in March and 1302 in April, with 1239 in Feb.
Where does the 600 figure come from?
@Michael O’Sullivan:
Journal changed the article and the headline. The previous article stated that there were an extra 600 families homeless since March this year but offered no data to support it nor any information on the status of these families prior to March. As usual they change the article without referencing the fact and make comments look silly.
i wonder how many are romea who come over and look for a free house the same day where is pavee point. and of course there will be the wans who want to be beside me ma and I want a 4 bedroom with a big garden for me BBQ and a few cans.
i agreed with your point on profile when grange gorman shut down its patient where thrown on the street i would imagine there are drug addicts (they choose that life) how many off those given a free house would make a contribution to society or even pay rent.
your comment on LL’s making a fortune, i knew of a couple who topped them selves while you sat in your cosy big council house with no mortgage worries its a tough life….
Prospective Taoisaigh jockeying for position,
Rallying their wannabe foot soldiers,
Promised positions at the trough,
For voting for the most likely Toff.
A Media frenzy of little substance,
Following the trail of inflated hype,
Devoid of any worthwhile discussion,
Feeding the faithful, despite repercussions.
While austerity burns the souls of those who dared
Follow the advice of banks and advisors,
Being the Brave and the early risers,
Making up the numbers for statistics visors.
To hell with you now, and your families,
say Bankers and Politicians,
While they court the next wave of suckers,
To believe their filthy dirty latest structures.
The grief is deep,
Impossible to keep
Positive and strong,
While family weep.
God love them.
What’s sad is that there is no movement on this atm. Builders are refusing to build..government can’t tell their arses from their elbows. And all the while banks are foreclosing and NAMA are sitting on property.
Enough
A small increase of 69 children in a month. Is this how we’ve become so used to the high numbers? There was a time when a total of 69 would have shocked not an increase of 69.
No worries , FG on top of this ☺️
By the way- of the 22 families who slept on the floor of Garda stations (figures from the AGSI) on Tuesday night of this week- all but 5 were non-nationals, and 14 of the 22 families had been in the country for less than 10 days. I’m not sure what exactly this means or depicts- but we seem to be attracting people to the country- who don’t have accommodation, and don’t have the means of providing accommodation for themselves.
If this is the case then there needs to be another approach
Tds still collected their pay rise recently though . Hope they can sleep soundly
@sean nihill:
All public servants collected their pay rise recently and I’m sure they are sleeping soundly
@Sinead Mooney: my god!!! Is that the best comment you can come up with? Seriously, try using your brain for one second and think about what you just wrote
What a crazy country this is.I see ghost estates every day I drive on the road and these poor people are homeless.
This situation is going to get worse before it gets better because this country is being run by clowns.
Shame on us
Theres a name for people who can’t empathise with their fellow human beings they’re called psychopaths & theres too many here for my likin
This is what happens when you vote for FG or FF. no society should be setup so it is possible to profit from the basic necessities in life such as housing, food, etc. But go on you morons, keep voting for these fascist parties if you want to keep the country in shit
@Patrick McCann: what are the alternatives?
have your say