According to Dublin Regional Homelessness Authority data received by Mercy Law under a Freedom of Information request on February 28th, 2023, there were 203 families living in emergency accommodation for two or more years across the Dublin Local Authority areas. This represents 363 adults and 523 children, and 17.42% of all families in emergency accommodation. 5% of all families in emergency accommodation in the region, representing 100 adults and 153 children, had been so for 3-4 years. A further 35 families, including 93 children, had spent 4-5 years in emergency accommodation while 7 families, including 14 children, spent over 6 years in emergency accommodation.
These figures indicate that the issue of families remaining in emergency accommodation for years, well in excess of the 6 months envisaged by Government policy, is systemic in Dublin. This trend is increasing– there has been an increase of 36 families, or 22%[i], of families in homeless accommodation for 2+ years since March 2019. There is currently no time limit on the period homeless families may spend in unsuitable emergency homeless accommodation.
Emergency accommodation is intended to be a temporary solution for families experiencing homelessness. It is proven to be unsuitable to family life and to the welfare of children. As outlined in MLRC 2019 Report on the Lived Experience of Homeless Families[ii], a wide range of detrimental impacts on the health and well-being of children and their parents have been observed to be caused by excessive time spent in homelessness accommodation, including severe physical, educational, emotional, and psychological consequences for both parents and children. MLRC has been in receipt of medical reports and school reports in individual cases, confirming such negative impacts.
In our 2019 report, Mercy Law set out the following recommendations with regards the placement for excessive time periods in B&B and hotel accommodation, many of which were accepted and recommended in Joint Committee on Housing, Planning & Local Government Family and Child Homelessness in November 2019.[iii]
- Local authorities to cease reliance on commercial hotels and B&Bs as a form of emergency homeless provision to homeless families and to provide for own door ‘transitional accommodation’ in its place);
- Amendment to Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 to place a limit on the time that families and vulnerable individuals may spend in emergency homeless accommodation, including in particular in unsuitable commercial hotels and B&Bs;
- Issuing of Regulations by the Minister of Housing, Planning and Local Government, under Section lO(ll)(a) of the Housing Act 1988, specifying and restricting the type of emergency accommodation that families may be accommodated in, ensuring therefore its suitability and adequacy.
| Total Families in EA as at 28th February 2023 | ||
| Total Families | Total Adults in Families | Total Children |
| 1,165 | 1,999 | 2,574 |
| Families in EA 2 years or more as at 28th February 2023 | ||||
| Duration in EA | Total Families | Total Adults in Families | Total Children | Families 2+ years as % of Total Families in EA on 28th Feb 2023 |
| 2 years less 3 years | 90 | 161 | 230 | 7.73% |
| 3 years less 4 years | 58 | 100 | 153 | 4.98% |
| 4 years less 5 years | 35 | 60 | 93 | 3.00% |
| 5 years less 6 years | 13 | 29 | 33 | 1.12% |
| 6+years | 7 | 13 | 14 | 0.60% |
| Total | 203 | 363 | 523 | 17.42% |
[i] https://www.focusireland.ie/knowledge-hub/latest-figures/?tab=Family
[ii] https://mercylaw.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MLRC-Report-on-the-Lived-Experiences-of-Homeless-Families.pdf
[iii]https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/32/joint_committee_on_housing_planning_and_local_government/reports/2019/2019-11-14_report-on-family-and-child-homelessness_en.pdf