Commandeer hotel rooms for homeless, urges Focus Ireland

The Government will have to “commandeer” hotel rooms if children are to be prevented from sleeping rough, the lead charity working with homeless families has warned.

The statement from Focus Ireland comes as the latest figures show numbers of homeless children have almost doubled in a year, and as homeless families are now being placed on a regular basis in inappropriate adult hostels, on inflatable beds, as no other shelter can be found for them.

During the week of April 18th to 24th there were 2,121 homeless children in 1,037 families, across the State – a 90 per cent increase in homeless children, and a 105 per cent increase in the number of families, since April 2015.

Dublin

The biggest numbers are in Dublin, where there were 1,736 homeless children in 888 families in the same week last month, an 84 per cent increase on the 970 children in emergency accommodation in April last year.

There were 86 homeless children in 31 families in the mideast last month, compared with 18 children in seven families in April 2015 (a 377 per cent increase in children).

In the southwest there were 75 children in 33 families in emergency accommodation, compared with 53 in 19 families in April last year (a 41 per cent increase in children).

In the west there were 53 children in 22 families, compared with 11 in five families last year, a 381 per cent increase in children.

The numbers in the midwest were 48 children in 20 families, compared with 26 in 10 families last year – an 85 per cent rise in the number of children. There were 39 homeless children in 23 families in the midlands, compared with 15 in nine families, a 160 per cent increase.

There were 27 homeless children in 16 families in the southeast last month, five children in two families in the northwest and two children in two families in the northeast, representing increases of 12.5 per cent, 0 per cent and 100 per cent respectively in the numbers of children in emergency accommodation. In all, there were 6,189 people in emergency accommodation across the State last month.

Tourism season

The figures, indicative of the continuing and deepening nature of the homelessness crisis, come as the tourism season gathers pace, meaning hotel rooms are more and more difficult to secure.

For the first time since charities last year established a “place of safety” option, to be triggered in absolute emergencies, they are regularly turning to this. The “place of safety” response is essentially inflatable or roll-out mattresses on the floors of adult hostels – shelters that would, in better circumstances, be regarded as inappropriate places for children.

Charities stress that families who are placed in these hostels are put in separate rooms from other residents – in one family’s case last week they were put on the floor of the staff room – and that they will be moved to more suitable accommodation after one night.

However, these are facilities where children are sharing shelter with single adults – none of whom will have been Garda vetted and a significant number of whom have addiction and mental health issues.