An additional €2m of targeted funding for social housing in Cork City to support people exiting emergency accommodation has been welcomed by Fine Gael Cork spokesperson Colm Burke, however the figures show Cork received far less funding than many other Irish cities.

Agreement was reached on Wednesday by Government to approve an extra €50m to expand the social housing second-hand acquisitions programme.

The €50m in funding nationally will be used to acquire approximately 135 homes, but almost four fifths of the funding is for Dublin —€22m for Dublin City, €10m for Fingal, €5m for South Dublin, and €2.5m for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

Cork also received less funding than Galway city (€4m), and Limerick city and county (€3m), and just marginally more than Waterford city and county (€1.5m).

Mr Burke told The Echo: “It’s great to see this funding announced for Cork city. The funding will be specifically for households in emergency accommodation that local authorities are supporting to exit emergency accommodation to housing.

“Behind every homeless statistic is an individual or family, often with children doing their best in very difficult circumstances.

“This additional allocation of €2m to Cork City Council will be directed towards helping families to transition out of emergency accommodation and into secure housing.”