There’s been a rise of almost a quarter in the number of homeless children in the Midwest in the past year.
The first report of the year from the Department of Housing shows there are now 147 minors without a permanent roof over their heads in the Midwest.
The number of homeless adults is also on the rise in Clare and across the region.
As of the end of January, 341 adults and 147 children were registered as homeless across the Midwest region.
That combined figure of 488 is an increase of 31 on the 457 in that situation across Clare and Limerick last year.
In terms of under 18s, there has been a 24% rise in the space of a year in the number of children living in emergency accommodation such as hotels and B&Bs in the Midwest.
This time last year, 119 were in that situation, meaning there’s been a jump of 28 in the past 12 months.
While last month saw a 7% drop in homeless figures nationally, which was the sharpest decline since records began in 2014, the overall number is back above the 10,000 mark once again after just shy of 560 people entered homelessness across January.
