Homelessness figures reached record highs in 2016 with almost 7,000 people recorded as homeless in Ireland in November.
The figures for November were released over the Christmas break, with Sinn Fein accusing the government of releasing them over the holidays in the hope that people won’t notice.
2016 saw the launch and several re-launches of the Action Plan for Housing. Most recently rent caps were introduced in the so-called pressure zones of Dublin and Cork that would see rent increases limited to 4% a year.
Though there have been calls to extend that to cities like Waterford, Limerick and Galway where the homelessness problem is also significant.
The figures released show that almost 3,000 children were homeless in November. It comes as homelessness activists continue to occupy the NAMA owned Apollo House, housing around 50 homeless people over Christmas.
The court has ordered Home Sweet Home to vacate the property by January 11th, however the group hasn’t yet said if they will leave or defy the court order.
