A RECORD high in the homeless figures has been described as shocking and unacceptable.
Latest figures from the Department of Housing, Planning & local Government show the number of homeless adults and children passing 9,000 for the first time.
A record number of adults and children are now living in emergency accommodation. This is the highest level of homelessness on record with dramatic increases in adult, child and family homelessness.
According to the report, in January, there were 5,837 adults, 3,267 children and 1,517 families in emergency accommodation. The total number of people officially homeless is 9,104, up almost 30 per cent on January 2017.
There are 329 more adults and 188 more children in emergency accommodation than in December 2017.
Reacting to the figures, the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) said they should act as a rallying call for urgent action and for the State to declare a housing emergency.
"Urgent reassessment of the Government's housing policy is needed,” Jennifer Thompson, SVP Social Policy Development Officer, said.
"The key response to this crisis is to provide much greater protection to keep people in their homes as well as addressing land hoarding and prioritising the building of social and affordable housing.
“We also need the Government to quickly publish its strategy for dealing with vacant properties. We urgently need more social and affordable homes and must stop the continued over-reliance on the private sector to meet social housing need.
"It is also essential to stem the flow of those becoming homeless and enhance the protection for tenants to prevent the shocking figure announced today from growing even more.”
Ms Thompson said that the charity’s members were increasingly seeing a huge number of families receiving notices to quit and “stressed by the fear of homelessness".
“We are seeing on a weekly basis the reality and hearing the stories of the individuals and families behind these statistics and trends,” she added. “The figures released today are a further stark reminder of the dangers of relying on the dysfunctional housing market to address our housing and homelessness crisis.
"Families living in emergency accommodation consistently face the uncertainty over their future and when they will find a home, they endure the daily worry of how they are going to feed their children.”
Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, said he would be calling on the Government to convene an emergency cabinet meeting to address the issue.
“We need a significant increase in investment in turn key properties,” Deputy Ó Broin said. “We need action on notices to quit to stop the flow of families and adults into homelessness."