Forty homeless in Westmeath

 

Forty homeless adults in Westmeath accessed local authority-managed emergency accommodation in the week from August 20-26, the latest figures released by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government have shown.

Across the midlands, there were 104 adults on the list – 53 female and 51 male. The breakdown showed that Offaly had 44 homeless people, Laois 13 and Longford 7.

One of those 104 in the midlands who was homeless was aged over 65, and 23 were aged between 18 and 24.

There were 69 aged between 25 and 44 and the remaining 11 were aged between 45 and 64.

The figures showed that the local authorities placed 65 of the people in private emergency accommodation, such as hotels, B&Bs, and other residential facilities that are used on an emergency basis; the remaining 39 were housed in supported temporary accommodation, which would include hostels, with onsite professional support.

The statistics revealed that within the midlands, there were 38 families homeless. This figure comprised 54 adults with 87 dependants.

 

State

The total number of homeless adults in the state during that same period was 5,834, of whom 3,944 were in Dublin.

The second-highest concentration was in the South-West, where there were 430 homeless, followed by the Mid-West, with 370; the South-East with 317; the West, with 258; the Mid-East, with 212, the North-East, with 132, the Midlands with 104 and the North-West with 67.

A total of 1,698 families are affected by homelessness across the state, 1,046 of which are single-parent families. The breakdown shows 2,350 adults affected, together with 3,693 dependents.