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Dublin Live
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Dublin Live
It will be hard to stop child homelessness topping 5,000, Housing Minister admits
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Housing Minister James Browne has conceded that it will be difficult to stop the number of children living in emergency accommodation from rising above 5,000. The Department of Housing published its May homelessness report last week and recorded 4,844 children in emergency accommodation. This was an increase of 69 on the previous month. In total, homelessness figures for May stood at 15,747 people, another record increase. At a press conference after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Minister Browne acknowledged that the number of children considered homeless is increasing towards 5,000. He said: "Well, the sense of direction, unfortunately, has been upwards and we're very close to that 5,000. "I don't want to see that threshold crossed, but it's gonna be very difficult to prevent crossing over that 5,000, considering how close we are. We're going to look at more measures of how we can prevent that child homelessness. "We have seen a significant increase in homelessness. We're seeing a significant increase in people becoming homeless moving from IPAS centres. "We've got very different categories of how people are becoming homeless, some people who need real support from health services, mental health services. Then you'll have people coming from high IPAS who no longer have the ability to stay in our IPAS centre because they've been regulated and don't have anywhere to live. "Then you have families who are becoming homeless as well. We want to focus on those families and how we can increase those preventative measures for families going in and getting back out as quickly as possible." Minister Browne stated that 40 per cent of families moving into homelessness accommodation are the recipients of notices to quit, something he said will be protected by new Rent Pressure Zone Legislation. The Minister's comments on child homelessness were criticised by Sinn Féin's housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin, who branded it an "utterly appalling admission of failure". He said: "Government have the power to take emergency action to tackle homelessness. That they choose not to take action is the reason why so many children are in emergency accommodation. They are not bystanders in this crisis." Elsewhere, Minister Browne confirmed reports in the Sunday Times suggesting that people will need to be considered habitual residents in Ireland to access social housing and emergency homeless accommodation. Mr Browne said that the Government will seek to pass legislation that it approved last year to "regularise habitual residents in this country who would be entitled to housing in line with the current rules around Social Protection and in line with European rules in relation to EU criteria." This, he said, will be done to "prioritise those who are actually living in the country". The Irish Mirror understands that additional proposals will go back to Cabinet in the coming weeks that will exempt children from the residency requirement and clarify that where an EU citizen is ineligible for social housing supports, the local authority is not required to provide homeless services. Under EU Law, a 'right to residence' for longer than three months is available to EU citizens who have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the host member state. The May homelessness report notes that 21 per cent of people in emergency accommodation were from the European Economic Area or the UK, while 28 per cent were non-EEA. The remaining 51 per cent were Irish citizens. Mr Browne said EU citizens who cannot financially support themselves will be returned home. However, he denied that this was an attempt to reduce the homelessness figures by removing non-Irish citizens from the list. He added: "We're talking about people who might have arrived in the country, who haven't been working here, who haven't been living here, and then seek social housing supports. It's people who have been here very, very short term." The Irish Mirror understands that the planned legislation will only be for new people coming into the system and anyone living in emergency accommodation will not be reassessed and it should not impact the current emergency accommodation figures. A Department of Housing spokesperson added: "Homelessness is a hugely complex issue and the Department does not speculate on fall or increase in numbers. "The information collected and published by the Department shows that there are many and varied reasons that households present to homeless services in local authorities and enter emergency accommodation. It is important that local authorities have a robust legal framework to assess households for homeless provision, and changes to the legislation are being considered on that basis." Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
Irish Daily Mirror
02-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Minister concedes it will be hard to stop child homelessness surpassing 5,000
Housing Minister James Browne has conceded that it will be difficult to stop the number of children living in emergency accommodation from rising above 5,000. The Department of Housing published its May homelessness report last week and recorded 4,844 children in emergency accommodation. This was an increase of 69 on the previous month. In total, homelessness figures for May stood at 15,747 people, another record increase. At a press conference after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Minister Browne acknowledged that the number of children considered homeless is increasing towards 5,000. He said: "Well, the sense of direction, unfortunately, has been upwards and we're very close to that 5,000. "I don't want to see that threshold crossed, but it's gonna be very difficult to prevent crossing over that 5,000, considering how close we are. "We're going to look at more measures of how we can prevent that child homelessness. "We have seen a significant increase in homelessness. We're seeing a significant increase in people becoming homeless moving from IPAS centres. "We've got very different categories of how people are becoming homeless, some people who need real support from health services, mental health services. "Then you'll have people coming from high IPAS who no longer have the ability to stay in our IPAS centre because they've been regulated and don't have anywhere to live. "Then you have families who are becoming homeless as well. We want to focus on those families and how we can increase those preventative measures for families going in and getting back out as quickly as possible." Minister Browne stated that 40 per cent of families moving into homelessness accommodation are the recipients of notices to quit, something he said will be protected by new Rent Pressure Zone Legislation. The Minister's comments on child homelessness were criticised by Sinn Féin's housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin, who branded it an "utterly appalling admission of failure". He said: "Government have the power to take emergency action to tackle homelessness. "That they choose not to take action is the reason why so many children are in emergency accommodation. They are not bystanders in this crisis." Elsewhere, Minister Browne confirmed reports in the Sunday Times suggesting that people will need to be considered habitual residents in Ireland to access social housing and emergency homeless accommodation. Mr Browne said that the Government will seek to pass legislation that it approved last year to "regularise habitual residents in this country who would be entitled to housing in line with the current rules around Social Protection and in line with European rules in relation to EU criteria." This, he said, will be done to "prioritise those who are actually living in the country". The Irish Mirror understands that additional proposals will go back to Cabinet in the coming weeks that will exempt children from the residency requirement and clarify that where an EU citizen is ineligible for social housing supports, the local authority is not required to provide homeless services. Under EU Law, a 'right to residence' for longer than three months is available to EU citizens who have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the host member state. The May homelessness report notes that 21 per cent of people in emergency accommodation were from the European Economic Area or the UK, while 28 per cent were non-EEA. The remaining 51 per cent were Irish citizens. Mr Browne said EU citizens who cannot financially support themselves will be returned home. However, he denied that this was an attempt to reduce the homelessness figures by removing non-Irish citizens from the list. He added: "We're talking about people who might have arrived in the country, who haven't been working here, who haven't been living here, and then seek social housing supports. "It's people who have been here very, very short term." The Irish Mirror understands that the planned legislation will only be for new people coming into the system and anyone living in emergency accommodation will not be reassessed and it should not impact the current emergency accommodation figures. A Department of Housing spokesperson added: "Homelessness is a hugely complex issue and the Department does not speculate on fall or increase in numbers. "The information collected and published by the Department shows that there are many and varied reasons that households present to homeless services in local authorities and enter emergency accommodation. "It is important that local authorities have a robust legal framework to assess households for homeless provision, and changes to the legislation are being considered on that basis."
