Government urged to act over homelessness as numbers spiral

By Rebecca Black, Press Association

The Government has been pressed to urgently act on Ireland’s homelessness crisis as numbers continue to spiral.

The latest figures on Friday indicate that more than 17,500 people were living in emergency accommodation in July – up by 45 people since June.

These figures include 5,659 children and 11,868 adults.

The Simon Communities of Ireland said that over the 12 months since July 2025, the data shows an increase of 1,469 (9.1%) in emergency accommodation.

Executive director Ber Grogan said the Dáil was recalled on Friday over fuel prices, but there was a “lack of urgency” over homelessness.

If TDs can return to the Dáil during their summer break when they believe an issue requires immediate attention, then surely the thousands of people living without a permanent home deserve the same political urgency

“While we welcome action to support households facing rising fuel costs, we need to see that same sense of urgency when it comes to homelessness,” she said.

“Ireland’s homelessness crisis has deepened over the last decade, and there’s still no sense of urgency from Government.

“We need political leadership that matches the scale of the crisis.

“The Government must act now to prevent people from losing their homes, increase the supply of affordable and social housing, and ensure there are clear pathways out of emergency accommodation.

“If TDs can return to the Dáil during their summer break when they believe an issue requires immediate attention, then surely the thousands of people living without a permanent home deserve the same political urgency.

“Homelessness is a crisis. It is not going away, and it will not be solved by emergency accommodation alone.”

Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan described the figures as “deeply troubling”.

“To give a sense of the scale of this human crisis, more than 5,000 children are currently without a home, the equivalent of at least 220 primary school classes,” he said.

“The Government data still fails to include information about the age of children or the length of time that they remain homeless.

“The data published for Dublin shows that six out of ten families have been homeless for over one year and an appalling 30% have been homeless for over two years, The harm being done by this is incalculable.”

He also called for the Government to “move urgently” and take action to prevent more households becoming homeless and help those in emergency accommodation secure permanent homes.

He said: “If the Government is serious about reversing these rising numbers, it must urgently progress the Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan, the National Prevention Framework and the review of the HAP Scheme.”

“There is a terrible absence of a sense of urgency from this Government about the harm being done to these children.”

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the latest figures were a “shameful new record”.

“Sadly, there is simply no political will to tackle this issue. This Government constantly tries to deflect from the fact that its own flawed policies have created the homelessness crisis,” he said.

“The Government repeatedly refuses to introduce a no-fault eviction ban, despite scandalous levels of homelessness, while prioritising the interests of investor funds.

“Their deeply flawed policies just make housing increasingly unaffordable and push more families and individuals into unsuitable emergency accommodation.

“This is an impossible situation that no family should face in a wealthy country such as ours. We must never allow it to become normalised.”