The number of homeless families in Dublin continued to rise during June, with homelessness charities saying the situation is "on a knife edge".
Department of Housing figures show that 702 families accessed emergency accommodation during June, up from 688 families in May.
The number of single adults in homelessness also increased in the capital.
4,069 homeless adults accessed emergency accommodation in June, while 4,054 did so in May.
Tony Walsh, Founder Chief Executive of the Feed Our Homeless charity, labelled the figures as ¨worrying.¨
He told Dublin Live: ¨The latest figures released today are very worrying. We are constantly seeing an increase in the numbers of newly single adults becoming homeless over the last few months.
¨What is also very worrying is the numbers of families who have become homeless for the first time last month.
Throughout the pandemic, Feed Our Homeless have seen an increase in the numbers of families in particular accessing our supports services seeking help from our weekly food provisions programme as many families are finding it very difficult and struggling to keep up with paying their rent to keep a roof over their heads.¨
Mr Walsh is also concerned that this trend will worsen as the economy opens up.
He said: ¨Many families are faced with having little or no money left each month after paying their rent to purchase weekly shopping to feed their families which in turn is leaving them living in poverty and on the knife edge of becoming homeless.
¨We can see this trend of newly homeless families and also individuals continuing to rise over the next few weeks and months particularly now restrictions have lifted and our economy begins to open back up.
¨Many families have already received notices to quit from there landlords .
¨I'm calling on the Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to put contingency plans in place for the coming weeks and months ahead to help any family who finds themselves homeless through no fault of their own, particularly now that the winter months are fast approaching.¨
Dublin Live has contacted the Department of Housing for comment.
For the latest news and breaking news visit dublinlive.ie/news.
Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
Follow us on Twitter @DublinLive - the official Dublin Live Twitter account - real news in real time.
We're also on Facebook/dublinlive - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the capital.
Get the latest breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our free newsletter
