A SCREENSHOT OF a chart entitled “Homelessness Index 2023” has been misleadingly cited by public figures to suggest that either the government or liberalism is to blame for Dublin having the ‘worst homelessness’ of the cities on the list.

However, the chart which ranks Dublin number one actually indicates that although it has an ever-present homelessness issue, it is the best at managing homelessness of a group of cities that were surveyed.

“Before this day ends, we can all agree #IrelandisFull,” Senator Sharon Keogan wrote next to the chart on X, formerly Twitter. “This government is not capable of dealing with the tough decisions needed re #Immigration nor able to deal with the chaos they have created.”

However, the chart was not ranking Ireland as having the worst homelessness among the other cities listed.

“The study was actually about which cities had the best homeless services,” journalist Paul O’Donohue wrote in response to these claims, linking to the news article that the chart was taken from.

“The list of cities with the most homelessness is also a list of some of the most progressive and liberal cities in the world,” John McGuirk, the editor of the website Gript.ie, wrote alongside a screenshot of the chart.

However, again, the list did not show the worst cities for homelessness, only a selection of cities with homelessness problems.

While there are no definitive lists comparing homelessness across the world, attempts to rank the countries worst for homelessness often top with Syria, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

The SBS News article that the chart was taken from does give one example of a country that deals with homelessness well: Finland, which has seen a major drop in homelessness and which is regularly ranked as one of the most liberal states in the world.

Reposting O’Donoghue’s tweet, John McGuirk later acknowledged he was “one of those to fall for a misreading of what the list was”, adding that he was obliged to retweet the correct information.

The SBS article the chart is taken from described a charity’s survey of different responses to homelessness. 

“Launch Housing, a community organisation that delivers homelessness services, has released a new report comparing homelessness in Auckland, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Dublin, London, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto,” the SBS article reads.

“Of the 10 cities, the Capital Cities Homelessness Index ranked Dublin the best, with Adelaide second and Vancouver and Sydney tied for third.”

An image from SBS News that was spread with misleading comments SBS News SBS News

However, explaining their ranking, the charity Launch Housing also noted that homelessness in Dublin remained a major issue.

“Ireland’s Government is committed to ending homelessness, including rough sleeping, but despite past policies and initiatives, homelessness continued to worsen,” they wrote, noting that policies to increase the housing will take time, and until then the crisis would continue.

There were 9,504 adults and 4,027 children in emergency accommodation in January, according to figures released by the Department of Housing last month.

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