South-East Has Third Highest Homelessness Levels In The Country – McGrath
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has described the latest homelessness figures for the South-East as deeply disturbing. Deputy McGrath was speaking after the Department of the Environment Community and Local Government confirmed that the South-East has 260 homeless adults, 197 of which are male with the remaining 63 female:
“These shocking statistics reveal that in January 2016, based on housing authorities’ reports, there were 3,885 homeless adults; 884 homeless families and 1,830 dependents nationally.
In the South-East there are 12 families that are homeless, seven of which are single parent families; which is to say nothing of the staggering amount of house-holds that are literally avoiding homelessness on a week by week basis.
What is equally horrifying is the fact of the 260 people who are homeless in the South-East, 71 of these are aged 45-64 and 9 of them are 65 years and over.
Earlier today I made the call for serious consideration to be given to the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders as part of a suite of measures to deal with the housing emergency. These figures confirm the urgency surrounding that proposal.
All of this puts into absolutely stark relief the immediate and pressing need for a clear roadmap for government to be hammered out.
Further delays are simply unforgivable against such a background of national crisis,” concluded Deputy McGrath.
