Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has welcomed the overall drop in the number of people living in emergency accommodation. However, the increase in the number of families presenting as homeless in Dublin is “deeply worrying”.

Teachta Ó Broin said: “The Department of Housing’s official homeless figures for June 2020 were published this afternoon.

“The figures show that a 8,699 people were accessing emergency accommodation last month, a drop of 177 on the May figures. This included 6,046 adults and 2,653 children. There were 1,159 families accessing emergency accommodation in June.

“The drop in the overall number is welcome. But the increase in the number of families presenting as homeless in Dublin is deeply worrying.

“According to the figures, there has been a 50% increase in presentations, a 100% increase in new entries to hostels, and a 100% drop in exits.

“I will be contacting the Minister for Housing and the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive in the coming days to find out why the number of families presenting the in the capital has increased.

“Given that the government legislation passed last night will strip most tenants of the protections from evictions that they have been afforded the past few months, we may see the figures spike further in the coming months.

“I am also deeply saddened learn of further deaths of people accessing homeless services in Dublin and Cork. The Minister must make a statement on the matter and outline what he and his officials are planning to stop such tragedies from occurring again.”