Nearly 450 registered as homeless in county

By Brendan Grehan

THERE ARE nearly 450 registered homeless households in South Dublin, the monthly meeting of South Dublin County Council heard this week.

Councillors Francis Timmons and Mark Ward submitted questions asking for the number of homeless in the county, including those sleeping rough.

The council replied that as of January 31 last, there were 437 registered homeless households of which 192 are single males, 48 are single females, two are couples and there are 195 families. They stated that there are six rough sleepers known to SDCC outreach service and efforts are being made to engage those people with services.

Clondalkin councillor Mark Ward described the latest homeless figures as “shocking”. Cllr Ward has also called for an increase in single-bed units to be provided and that the inhumane policy of self-accommodating is ceased immediately.

He said: “Homeless families are accommodated in commercial hotels and hostel accommodation throughout the county.

“Due to the limited number of placements available for family-type accommodation, the self-accommodation option is offered enabling those families to source their own emergency accommodation in an area/location suitable to their needs.”

He added: “According to these figures South Dublin County Council will need to provide 437 homes to solve this crisis. The biggest group of people accessing emergency accommodation are single men and women.

“There is a complete dearth of one-bedroom accommodation provided by the council and at this moment we will need 230 single-bed units to accommodate these people.

“I am calling for the Council to include single-bed units in all plans going forward and for the Government to draft a plan specifically to target this group of homeless persons”