DUBLIN HOMELESS FAMILIES in emergency accommodation will have free Leap Card travel in August, Minister Eoghan Murphy has confirmed. 

In a statement, it was announced that the Housing Minister agreed to extend the Leap Card arrangements for homeless families on a “once off basis, for the month of August”. 

The Department of Housing currently funds an initiative giving free public transport to school for children living in emergency accommodation. 

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive and the National Transport Authority have put the necessary arrangements in place for this scheme.

Sinn Féin Dublin Spokesperson Denise Mitchell has welcomed this move, saying it could help reduce isolation among homeless people. 

“It is very important that young people and their families, who are living in emergency accommodation through no fault of their own, are supported in this way,” said Mitchell. 

“Many young people living in emergency accommodation find themselves isolated as they are often living quite a distance from where their friends are.

“The provision of free public transport during non-term time will go some way towards addressing this issue of social isolation.” 

Proposals to extend this free public transport to homeless families outside Dublin and to Dublin homeless families year-round will be considered in the 2020 budget, according to The Irish Times.