The number of homeless people in the State increased by 12.5 per cent last year to 16,734, including 5,188 children, despite a small fall in the numbers staying in emergency accommodation in December.
Focus Ireland said the increase made 2025 “the worst year on record for rising homelessness”. The charity welcomed the monthly decrease of 262, but noted that the numbers often fall in December as some people stay with their families over Christmas.
The latest data, published on Friday by the Department of Housing, show that 16,734 people were accessing local authority-managed emergency accommodation in the week of December 22nd to 28th. This included 2,478 families, down from 2,525 in November.
There were 14,864 people, including 4,510 children, and 2,092 families, accessing emergency accommodation in December 2024.
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The latest report shows more than 60 per cent of homeless adults were men. More than half the people in the system were aged between 25 and 44. There were 8,184 homeless adults and 3,883 children living in the Dublin region.
Almost half of those accessing emergency accommodation were Irish, with 19.8 per cent from the European Economic Area or the UK, and 30.5 per cent from elsewhere.
“This positive news in December stands in stark contrast to what has been the worst year on record for rising homelessness,” said Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan.
“We must remember that behind every number is a person, whose life has been pushed into crisis by losing their home. It is simply unacceptable that over 5,000 children in Ireland are still homeless today.”
New rental legislation is set to be debated in the Oireachtas in the coming weeks before coming into effect from March 1st.
Mr Dennigan said the Government must, before the changes comes into force, put a new policy in place to support people in receipt of the Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) who may face rent increases.
“While we understand a report on the implications of these rent changes for over 50,000 tenants on HAP has been commissioned, it has not been published and there is no plan to prevent these families and individuals being pushed into debt and homelessness.”
Sinn Féin said the sharp annual increase in the numbers was “due to the Government’s failing housing policies”.
The party’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said reduced funding for homelessness-prevention schemes, such as tenant-in-situ, had pushed ever more people into emergency accommodation.
“To make matters worse, Government has published legislation this week that will effectively end the modest protection provided to renters through the Rent Pressure Zones. This will mean that from March, renters in new tenancies will be hit with even higher rents,” he added.
Dublin Simon chief executive Catherine Kenny said homelessness is being driven by “a range of overlapping factors”. These included financial pressure, rising living costs, health challenges, family breakdown, domestic violence, trauma and addiction, she said.
Ms Kenny said “a short-term dip” around Christmas in the overall numbers does not “change the reality that thousands of people remain without a safe, secure place to call home”.
“This is the third year in a row we have seen a decrease at this point in the year, only for numbers to rise again in January and continue climbing,” she added.
“Month-to-month fluctuations should not distract from the urgent need for sustained, long-term solutions that reflect the complexity of people’s lives.”
