Homelessness is twice as bad as official Government figures, a leading charity claimed today.
The statement comes just days after the Simon Community in Cork said it was struggling to match demand for beds in its shelters.
Focus Ireland maintains more than 2,900 households have nowhere to live, compared to 1,394 identified in the housing needs assessment.
The organisation believes data from the Department of Environment severely underestimated the problem.
Mike Allen, Focus Ireland’s director of advocacy, said the statistics are contradicted by a study by the Homeless Agency and local authorities.
“The housing needs assessment is conducted every three years by the Department of Environment,” said Mr Allen.
“The Government needs to review its operation and with respect to homelessness replace it with an annual country-wide ‘counted in’ survey.”
Collected in March 2008, the housing needs assessment estimated there were 1,394 households homeless in Ireland — with 709 in the Dublin region, and 371 in Cork, Limerick and Galway cities.
The Department of Environment later said the figure in the housing needs assessment is the number of homeless people who apply for local authority housing and not the total amount of homeless people in the country.
Meanwhile, a counted in survey by the Homeless Agency in the Dublin region found 2,144 households using homeless services last year, including 2,366 adults and 576 children.
“This is treble the amount claimed by the Department of Environment,” said Mr Allen.
He said similar studies in Cork, Limerick and Galway cities revealed 767 households were homeless, double the figure claimed by the housing needs assessment.
“In our view the ‘counted in’ figures are more reliable as they are based on a more robust methodology.
“They provide a more accurate figure for homelessness and a more accurate basis for policies to tackle it.”
On Friday the Simon Community in Cork said it was turning away four people night on average from its shelters. “We have 115 beds and they’re full every night," a spokesman for the group said. “We’re struggling terribly with funding."
Labour spokesman on housing, Ciaran Lynch, said maintaining funding is crucial in order for groups such as Simon and Focus Ireland to deliver services and supports for those marginalised in society.
“It clearly demonstrates that solving the problem of homelessness is something that we must all play our part in. Homelessness must not be allowed drop off the political agenda, even in the present economic climate and it must be a major priority for both national and local government," he said.
Additional Reporting: PA