137 more children became homeless in Ireland over one month

137 more children became homeless in Ireland over the course of a month.

New figures have shown an increase in the number of homeless people in emergency accommodation, bringing the total number up to 9,846. This is a two percent increase for May compared to April. Figures released by homeless charity Inner City Helping Homeless show that 3,826 children in the country are now homeless. The numbers also show that 1,700 families are now living in emergency accommodation too. Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has said that the increase is "disappointing" but that the situation appears to be stabilising. Inner City Helping Homeless CEO Anthony Flynn said that the minister is "in denial." He said:

“The minister is clearly not being realistic in regard to homeless figures as we have further increase with 137 children entering homelessness last month. An overall 2 percent increase is not stabilisation. The Minister continues to “reclassify” homeless people in order to keep the figure below the 10,000 mark over 800 have been “reclassified” in recent months. The Minister is in denial we need independent oversight on these figure immediately.”

According to the group, the number of homeless children has risen by 38 percent over the past 12 months.