Hopes for fall in Louth homeless figures with delivery of local projects

Louth County Council is hopeful that homeless numbers in the county will begin to fall as social housing projects which are almost complete are delivered, councillors were told at the Dundalk Municipal District November meeting.

The matter was raised at the November meeting by Cllr Robert Nash, Cathaoirleach of Dundalk Municipal District. Cllr Nash told the meeting that homeless figures in the county were creeping up over the past few months, and were up to 296 in this month's figures.

Cllr Nash asked how many of the 296 had presented as homeless in the past, adding that from talking to local charities they had also noticed an increase in local homeless numbers, and asked if Louth County Council had any plans in the future to allocate further resources to homeless services.

Replying to Cllr Nash, Declan Grimes, Senior Engineer with Louth County Council, said that they would expect the homeless figures to drop once housing projects like Connolly's Field, where 70 units are set to be delivered, and Gullion Park Finnabair where 142 housing units are to be delivered, as well as other projects in Drogheda and the rest of the county are delivered.

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Mr Grimes added that at least 10% of the housing units delivered to Louth County Council will be going towards combatting homelessness.