Mayo's homeless spend tripled to €98,000 in 2017

NEW figures show 195 people presented as homeless to Mayo County Council last year, writes Claire McNamara.

Details released under the Freedom of Information Act to The Connaught Telegraph show 157 of these were adults and 38 were children.

Of these, 78 households were offered B&B accommodation and 57 accepted it.

A total of 33 households were offered and accepted accommodation in local authority emergency accommodation units and a further 27 households were offered and accepted a tenancy of a local authority, rental accommodation scheme or housing assistance payment scheme.

Exactly €97,810 was spent on homeless services last year compared to €29,841 in 2016.

Local TD Lisa Chambers described the figures as worrying and said the homeless crisis has started to trickle down to rural areas.

"To date, Minister Eoghan Murphy has failed to deliver any credible solution to this escalating problem and the continuing rise of rent is having a severe effect on the homeless crisis," she said.