Over 200 people ‘homeless’ in Cavan
Some 202 people presented to Cavan County Council as homeless in the eight months between January and August 2024, including 58 children.
The figures show a similar pattern to 2023, when a total of 317 individuals presented across 12 months, including 103 children.
The news came on foot of a question submitted by Cllr Stiofán Conaty (SF) at September’s meeting of the local authority.
During proceedings, Cllr Conaty told those gathered that the figures told a grim story and he highlighted how the homeless situation in the county is “likely worse than the figures suggest”.
“Homeless figures don’t take into account those families and individuals on the verge of homelessness or whose homelessness is undocumented,” he remarked, before adding that the figures also didn’t factor in “the multitudes of young adults, often with children of their own, who are lucky enough to have a spare room in their parents’ home”.
Meanwhile, of those 202 people presenting as homeless in Co Cavan up to the end of August 2024, 62 have been provided with temporary emergency accommodation (TEA). Cavan County Council is currently supporting 18 adults and five children in TEA.
In response to Cllr Conaty’s question, the executive of the local authority said that not all presentations will be offered emergency accommodation because its housing department aims to source “alternative solutions”.
The meeting heard that each presentation is offered an assessment of their housing need and a determination is subsequently made as to whether or not TEA is the most appropriate solution.
The councillors were told that Cavan County Council currently employs one social worker to deal with homeless presentations and to co-ordinate responses and services; while the local authority is currently in the process of recruiting a homeless support officer to work with the social worker in her role.
“The council’s emergency accommodation service is invaluable in terms of providing temporary relief for those who need it,” said Cllr Conaty.
“By right, nobody should be homeless in this country. The ever-growing homeless figures clearly show that the Government's housing plan is not working. It is now time for a comprehensive, co-ordinated plan to finally solve the homelessness and housing crises; in Sinn Féin’s ambitious alternative housing plan, we would end homelessness by 2030.”
Elsewhere, a report from the Department of Housing shows that in the month of July 2024, a total of 14,429 people, including 4,401 children, required emergency accommodation nationally.