Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has commented on the publication of the Department of Housing’s monthly homeless figures, which show that 8,238 people were accessing homeless services in February.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“The Department of Housing’s official homeless figures for February 2021 show a welcome decrease of 62 in the number of children accessing homeless services compared to January. They also show a decrease of 31 in the number of families compared to the month previous.

“Unfortunately, the number of single adults accessing homeless services continues rise, with February seeing an increase of 33 on the previous month.

“It is concerning that we have not seen a significant drop in the number of people accessing homeless services even with the ban on evictions in place.

“The worst thing the Minister could do now is to lift the ban on evictions which is currently keeping families in their homes. The ban must be extended until at least the end of 2021.

“With the number of homeless families accessing homeless services plateauing, the government must place a greater focus on homeless prevention.

“More must be done to help single people accessing homeless services. We need to see a commitment from this government to increase the Housing First tenancy target.

“The target for 2021 is 200 tenancies, this should be doubled to at least 400.”