Approximately 40% of the 8,665 total adults in emergency accommodation are of non-Irish nationality, new figures show.
The information was released in a response to a Parliamentary Question from Rural Independent TD for Laois Offaly, Carol Nolan, by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien.
The total number represents an increase of more than 1,500 since April 2022 when there was a total of 7,105 adults registered by the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS) of whom 36% were of other than Irish nationality.
A breakdown of the detailed statistics shows that of the 1,560 additions to the numbers in emergency accommodation that 925 or over 59% of the increase was made up of people who are not Irish or who have not acquired Irish nationality.
The breakdown of statistics for recipients of Housing Assistance Payment also confirm the extremely high proportion of non-Irish nationals who are contributing to the housing crisis.
In March Gript reported on a Freedom of Information response that showed that not only were the majority of people receiving HAP under the authority of Longford County Council of other than Irish nationality, but that 41% of those on the council’s housing waiting list were not Irish.
This confirmed a pattern that was earlier evidenced in Laois. Another Freedom of Information request had revealed that 36% of the 1,752 people on the housing waiting list in Laois were non Irish. Similarly, a majority of those in receipt of Housing Assistance Payment – 53% – were of other than Irish nationality.
It is of course unfortunate that anyone should find themselves in a situation where they are without secure accommodation.
What the statistics prove is the clear and growing link between homelessness, the numbers who require social welfare assistance in paying rents, and the huge increase in the level of inward migration.
Those who believe that you can solve the first problem while supporting one of the main contributory factors in that crisis are at the very least ignorant of the statistical facts underlying the worsening of that crisis.