Homeless Hits 11,542 Record High

There is a light…

atest press release from John Brady TD, issued on Saturday, January 7th 2023…

Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has reacted with anger at the release of figures today that indicate that homeless figures across the state have hit another record high of 11,542.

An increase of almost 26.8% on this time last year. The fact that this figure emerges during a ban on evictions which is scheduled to expire in twelve weeks suggests that the situation is set to worsen considerably in the time ahead unless immediate action is taken by the government.

Brady said: “This government has dramatically failed to address the homeless crisis across the state. The new homeless figures for November set a new record for homelessness and a new low for the Government. This week the Government set another record for the most ever people lying on hospital trolleys. On Tuesday 931 people were left lying on trolleys in hospitals across the State.”

It’s incomprehensible that in January 2023 the state is experiencing record numbers of homeless people, at a time when the government is running a surplus of over €5 billion.

There are 11, 542 people homeless in the state. Thousands more workers and families are hanging on by their fingertips as mortgage costs and rents go through the roof.

We have thousands of more students whose lives have been reduced to sleeping in cars, being subjected to gross overcrowding and over charging. Or spending hours a day which they should be dedicating to study travelling by bus or by train to third level institutions. And who are forced to plan to emigrate upon graduation as they see no future for themselves in Ireland.

Enough is enough. The time is long since past since we have the patience to listen to mealy mouthed excuses by the government, as they wheel out what amounts to a redundant housing plan.

There is a homeless and housing crisis. The solution is to build houses. The role of the government is to build the required houses. The private sector cannot and will not accommodate the need. But the government has proven incapable of doing so.

Sinn Féin introduced a housing motion to the Dáil before Christmas which would have declared a housing emergency.

The government argues that there is not a housing emergency. I would ask Minister Darragh O’Brien, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and the three government TDs here in Wicklow to explain to the 11,542 homeless individuals, the tens of thousands of workers and families being put in penury through rent and mortgage costs, and the thousands of students forced to commute to their educational Institutions, almost too fatigued to learn, how there is no emergency. Explain how they could possibly believe that their housing plan is working.

“We need a government that can address this crisis, that can deliver a housing plan, that is committed to meeting the needs of families and workers, not a landlord class.”