The homeless figure in Kerry is 'in no way reflective of reality'.
That's according to Sinn Féin councillor for Tralee, Deirdre Ferris.
She was calling for Kerry County Council to change how it calculates its homeless figures for the Department of Housing.
The most recent figures show 37 people were accessing state-funded emergency accommodation in Kerry as of February.
Councillor Ferris says that, under the Housing Act 1988, the council can choose to include people temporarily staying with family or friends because they can't get accommodation 'from their own resources'.
She told today's monthly meeting of the council that there are 814 such people in Kerry, who are avoiding state-provided emergency homeless accommodation.
She cited a case whereby a family was made homeless, but couldn't avail of emergency state accommodation because one child has additional needs.
Due to this, the mother and the child with special needs are staying with a family friend, while two other children are staying with different friends.
She says this family deserves to be included in the homeless figures, and that many others are also excluded despite lacking 'secure accommodation'.
Director of Housing, Martin O'Donoghue said he couldn't comment on a specific case, but if people are "classifying as homeless, there is emergency accommodation available".
He said Kerry County Council defines homelessness according to 'established approaches", and that couch-surfers have accommodation and are not classified as homeless.
