Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has said that the longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in government, the worse the housing and homelessness crises are going to get.

His comments come as the Department of Housing homeless report for August shows child homelessness hitting a record high of 3895, and both single person and family homelessness continuing to rise.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“Today’s figures are utterly depressing. There are now 12,691 people, including 3,895 children, in Department of Housing-funded emergency accommodation.

“This is the highest number of children living in emergency accommodation since August 2019 when Eoghan Murphy was Minister.

“Month after month, the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has ignored the appeals of opposition parties and homeless NGOs to introduce an emergency response to the rising homelessness crisis. The result in ever-increasing levels of homelessness.

“Under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, we have become too used to record homelessness figures, month after month. These numbers are totally unacceptable. They are evidence of failure with real human costs.

“The longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government the worse the housing crisis has got – record homelessness levels, record high rents, rising house prices and families now under pressure from rising mortgage interest rates.

“The question has to be asked: what kind of housing crisis will we be facing if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael get another term in government?

“The choice at the next election is a worsening housing crisis under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael or a Sinn Féin led government that will fix the housing crisis by building homes, cutting rents, and dramatically reducing the numbers of adults and children in emergency accommodation.”