THERE WERE OVER 9,000 people in emergency accommodation last November, with the number of homeless people rising for the sixth month in a row.

Figures released by the Department of Housing in its monthly homelessness report for November 2021, show that there were 6,551 adults accessing emergency accommodation in the last week of the month.

The Department also shows that there were 2,548 children homeless during the last week in November.

This leads to a total of 9,099 people in emergency accommodation in the last week of November 2021.

Previously, the government recorded the lowest level of homelessness since 2017 in April 2021, but figures have risen steadily in the last six months.

Both the Simon Community and the Peter McVerry Trust have said that this rise in homelessness is down to the lifting of the eviction ban in April last year.

“The November figures show us that the value of the positive interventions brought in as a response to the pandemic is rapidly being lost,” said Wayne Stanley, Head of Policy and Communication at the Simon Communities of Ireland.

Homelessness was reduced by 19.3% month on month between March 2020 and May 2021, when the moratorium on evictions was lifted. Today’s statistics show that we are rapidly returning to pre-pandemic levels of homelessness.

“Urgent action is needed to mitigate the impact of these issues. That means a sharp focus on prevention while work continues to address the supply of affordable housing.”

“Since the lifting of the ban in April 2021, the number of adults and children in homelessness has increased by more than 1,100.  With future eviction bans having been ruled out, the number of homeless families will almost certainly continue to increase in the months ahead,” said campaigner Peter McVerry.

The highest homelessness figures are in Dublin, with 4,568 homeless adults being reported by the Department of Housing in the last week of November. Of the adults, 2,999 are male while 1,569 are female.

There is also a high proportion of homeless children in Dublin, with 1,930 being reported as homeless in the capital for November.

Emma Kilkenny, Head of Fundraising & Communications at Dublin Simon Community, said that Dublin Simon was concerned for the months ahead due to issues with Covid-19 and the rising cost of living.

“We are concerned for the months ahead as financial pressures, rising costs and widespread Covid-19 cases bring many people closer and closer to the poverty line,” said Kilkenny.

She says that the number of Covid-19 cases within the community is having a considerable impact on people in unstable accommodation or employment.

“This is having a very real impact on people who are in unstable accommodation or employment, with our teams doing all they can to keep people in their homes and preventing them from being pushed into homelessness.”