OPINION: Homelessness in the west deeply concerning

AS the number of people in emergency accommodation across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon continues to rise, reaching near record levels at the end of September, the Simon Community fears the situation will continue to get worse over the coming winter. According to the charity, it has supported 615 households, including 672 adults and 272 children, from January to July of this year.
The latest Emergency Accommodation figures released by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government showed there were 572 people in Emergency Accommodation across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon at the end of September – 352 adults and 220 children. The total is just four below the highest number of people ever in emergency accommodation in the west. It reflects the ongoing housing crisis, cost of living increases and the lifting of the moratorium on evictions earlier this year.
Most shockingly, the number of children in emergency accommodation in the west is at a record level.
CEO of Galway Simon Community Karen Golden has highlighted the scale of the deepening crisis in the region.
“It is heartbreaking to see the number of adults and children in emergency accommodation in the west increasing again,” she said. “We also know that the emergency accommodation figures reported on each month do not represent the true extent of the homelessness crisis. Only a very small number of the people that we support are represented in these figures. With the demand for secure and affordable housing continuing to outstrip supply, our frontline services are anticipating an even further increase in homelessness over the coming months.”
In the first seven months of this year Galway Simon has supported more households than it did in the whole of 2018.
The charity says the situation is widespread across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon – a fact it sees on a day-to-day basis, through increased referrals. People are being left with no options, many having to sleep on sofas of loved ones or enter into emergency accommodation. The trauma being experienced by people facing homelessness is horrendous.
The housing market in Ireland seems broken at present. Residential property prices across the west continue to grow, while rents in private rented accommodation have grown 20 percent across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon in the year from the second quarter of 2022. People are having to choose between everyday necessities like food, heat and electricity and paying their rent.
In highlighting the scale of the deepening crisis, Ms Golden has said that while Galway Simon welcomes the supports that have been put in place to date by the Government, higher numbers of new social and affordable housing units must delivered in the west in order to address housing and homelessness. This should indeed be the number one priority for the Government for the rest of its term.