“Deeply disheartening” – Merchants Quay Ireland responds to new homeless figures

 

Merchants Quay Ireland, the national homeless and addiction charity, has described the latest homeless figures as “deeply disheartening”.

The figures, published today by the Department of Housing, show that in July there were a total of 10,275 individuals in emergency accommodation, including 6,497 adults, 1,721 families and 3,778 children.

The figures show an overall increase of 103 people accessing into emergency accommodation. The figures do not include rough sleepers, people accessing MQI’s Night Café emergency shelter, or people in domestic violence shelters.

Commenting on the figures, Merchants Quay Ireland Chief Executive Paula Byrne said:

“The figures released today are deeply disheartening. They tell us that since the start of the year, more people are homeless, and for longer.

“We all know that the longer a person is homeless, the more their mental and physical health will deteriorate. It is shocking and concerning then to see one quarter of single adults who are accessing emergency accommodation forced to do so for more than two years.

“If we are to truly address this crisis, a greater effort must be made to support single people, particularly those with complex needs, such as addiction or mental health difficulties”.

-ENDS-

For more information, please contact:
Tom Sheppard
Communications Co-Ordinator
Merchants Quay Ireland
T: 01 531 2958
M: 086 7793 206
Email: tom.sheppard@mqi.ie 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MerchantsQuayIR
Twitter: @MerchantsQuayIR

 

Notes to the Editor

About Merchants Quay Ireland
Merchants Quay Ireland is a leading Irish charity working with people who are homeless and in addiction. The organisation provides services ranging from open access crisis intervention and health promotion services to day-support programmes, educational programmes, vocational training, residential treatment, detox and prison counselling. www.mqi.ie

About homeless statistics
The Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government statistics on emergency accommodation are available here: https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/minister-murphy-publishes-new-homeless-quarterly-progress-report-and-july