The number of people in emergency accommodation increased for a second month in a row in August and again the rise was driven by an increase in the number of children.
The latest figures from the Department of Housing show that 10,338 people accessed emergency accommodation during the week starting 19 August, which is an increase of 63 on the July numbers.
While the number of adults fell slightly, by seven, from July the number of children rose by 70 to 3,848.
The number of families also increased from 1,721 in July to 1,726 in August.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
There were also more people over 65 in emergency accommodation - 148 in August compared to 143 in July.
Dublin continues to account for two-thirds of those in emergency accommodation with the numbers in the capital rising by 12 to 4,312.
Meath saw the largest increase, the number rose by 14 to 111. Other counties where the numbers rose were Galway, Kildare and Kerry where the figures rose by nine.
Responding to today's figures, the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy said: "In August the number of people in emergency accommodation increased by 63. We continue to work with all of our partners to help families and individuals into new homes. More than 100 families left emergency accommodation in to a home in August."
Homeless charity Focus Ireland, meanwhile, has stressed that the scale of families continuing to lose their homes each week demonstrates that the crisis is still far from under control.
The charity said that the targets in the Government's 'Rebuilding Ireland' plan must be reviewed to ensure more social housing is built as a matter of urgency.
