Shocking: Laois homeless figures have risen substantially

The latest homeless figures for Laois have been released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The figures cover those in emergency accommodation and those sleeping rough for October 2024.

There are currently 67 children homeless in the Midlands, with 32 adults in emergency accommodation in Laois. 41 families are homeless across the Midlands.

This is nearly a substantial increase from August figures, which saw 24 homeless people in Laois, and 33 homeless families in the Midlands.

Figures for the Midland's region cover Laois, Westmeath, Offaly and Longford.

There are 10,321 homeless people in emergency accommodation across Ireland, with 173 homeless adults in the Midlands.

There are 41 homeless families in the Midlands, with 35 of these families made up of single parents with dependent children.

Currently, the Midlands have 173 adults in emergency accommodation. 126 of these individuals are single adults, with 96 men and 77 women currently homeless.

By age, there are 24 homeless people aged 18 to 24 in the Midlands. 

There are 89 people homeless in the Midlands between the ages of 25 to 44.

There are 56 homeless people aged 45 to 64, and four homeless people over the age of 65 within the Midlands.

By citizenship, 131 of these adults are Irish, with 30 EEA/UK citizens homeless. There are 12 non-EEA citizens in emergency accommodation.

On a national level, 5,399 of those in emergency accommodation are Irish (52%), with 2,264 from EEA/UK countries (22%) and 2,264 from Non-EEA countries accounting for 26% of those in emergency accommodation.

There were 32 people accessing emergency accommodation in Laois this past October.

A national total of 862 adults exited emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created, with a further 1,247 prevented from entering emergency accommodation in the first instance.

This represents an increase of 22.6% on the number of exits and an increase of 41.4% on the number of preventions achieved in Q3 2023.

There were four tenancies created within the Midlands in Q3 of 2024, with 49 individuals currently in a tenancy.

Since 2022, only 32 tenancies have been created in the Midland's, which is one of the lowest figures compared to other counties.

133 homeless people within the midland's are staying in Private Emergency Accommodation (PEA) which include hotels, B&Bs and other emergency residential facilities.

Meanwhile, there are 40 people in the Midland's housed in Temporary Emergency Accommodation (TEA), which is emergency accommodation with no (or minimal) support.

Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH) have recently appealed for ground mats, tents, tarps and clean sleeping bags and warm clothing to donate to the homeless community in the face of freezing temperatures. 

In October, another Midland's based homeless charity expanded to cover homeless people in Laois.

The Good Shepherd Centre Kilkenny (GSCK) now provides a ‘Regional Support Service’ to Laois' homeless community.