Budget 2025: 'Little, if anything, will change for the men and women having to sleep rough'

Budget 2025 has been described by a leading Cork homelessness and housing charity as “an opportunity lost”.

Paul Sheehan, communications manager with Cork Simon, said the budget’s cost-of-living and social welfare measures were welcome but were likely to have little impact for people on the very edge of homelessness.

“The cost of housing will likely absorb any benefit in the short-term, and the lack of ambition in addressing the housing crisis is evident,” Mr Sheehan said.

“Little, if anything, will change for the men and women having to sleep rough or for those stuck in emergency accommodation.”

Last week, the Department of Housing’s latest figures showed the number of people in emergency homeless accommodation had reached a new record high of 14,486 in Ireland.

The executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, a network representing all eight independent Simon Communities across the country, expressed disappointment on behalf of the charities. Wayne Stanley said: “It is extraordinary that so much money could be expended and yet, so little done for those at the sharpest end of the housing crisis.”

He gave a qualified welcome to the increase in the vacant homes tax, which is to rise from five to seven times the property’s existing Local Property Tax rate from November, and to the increase to social protection payments by €12.

“We welcome the vacant homes tax, though we are concerned that it is insufficient to drive change,” Mr Stanley said.

“Similarly, the increase in social welfare rate will be welcomed by those receiving them, but we know that it is not a sufficient buffer to work as a protection to low-income households to prevent homelessness.”

Mr Stanley criticised the decision not to increase the annual delivery of social housing beyond the Government’s current target of 10,000 social homes per year under its Housing For All strategy.

“The big picture is that the State needs to be working towards delivering 15,000 social homes a year,” he said.

“This is simply insufficient and we see another budget where the rhetoric of homelessness being a ‘top priority’ is not in evidence.”