The number of people homeless in Ireland has reached a new record high.
11,988 people are now homeless across the country.
The latest figures published by the Department of Housing show that 8,526 adults and 3,472 children were in emergency accommodation in March.
This includes 1,639 families.
The majority of homeless adults are in Dublin at 8,516 people.
Year on year there has been a 22% increase in those presenting as homeless, while there has been a 32% rise in families presenting as homeless.
"Concern"
Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community says: "The number of people staying in emergency accommodation in Dublin was up significantly in March, in a continuation of the trend seen over the past 15 months and representing an 25% increase on March 2022.
"Following on from the lifting of the eviction ban, we are seeing increased activity in our homelessness prevention services and experiencing a rise in enquiries from concerned tenants at risk of losing their homes and requiring our expertise and support.
Latest figures from @DeptHousingIRL show that there are now 11,988 people in emergency homeless accommodation; the highest on record. pic.twitter.com/Cz8ZG3yndX
— Simon Communities (@SimonCommunity) April 28, 2023
"Single people account for almost half of the clients we work with in homelessness prevention and are especially vulnerable due to a lack of affordable and suitable accommodation.
"Additionally, barriers to accessing the Housing Assistance Payment are being reported on the ground, and some individuals are returning to our emergency services due to the lack of appropriate options for moving on from homelessness."
