SO FAR THIS year Dublin City Council has spent as much on emergency accommodation for homeless people as it did in all of 2014.

So far €4.5 million has been spent on the services, which works out at ten times the €455,736 that was spent in 2012.

These come from figures released to Dublin Fianna Fáil councillor Daithí de Róiste.

Emergency accommodation is separate from the council’s ordinary homeless services, and traditionally have been provided through Dublin’s housing agencies or voluntary services.

Hotel rooms for families account for a large amount of the emergency accommodation provided.

Speaking about the figures, Cllr de Róiste, said, “These figures are further evidence of the gravity of the housing and homeless crisis in Dublin and the fact that it is being totally mismanaged.

The situation has been allowed to spiral so out of control that Dublin City Council has been left with no choice but step in on behalf of the four local authorities in Dublin and take emergency measures to avoid families having to sleep rough.

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The councillor describes the provision of emergency accommodation on a night-to-night basis as unsustainable, and calls on the government to work to provide “safe and suitable social housing in Dublin.”

According to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive the number of families registered as homeless last month came to 531, including 729 adults and 1,122 dependent children.