{"id":263823,"date":"2026-01-02T18:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T18:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/263823\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T18:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T18:27:07","slug":"new-record-high-of-almost-17000-homeless-including-5321-children-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/263823\/","title":{"rendered":"New record high of almost 17,000 homeless, including 5,321 children \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The number of homeless<\/a> people in the State<\/a> continues to climb, having reached almost 17,000 people, including 5,321 children.<\/p>\n

The new record high was described as \u201cheartbreaking\u201d by Focus Ireland, the largest non-statutory agency working with destitute families. <\/p>\n

The charity described as \u201cwrong\u201d claims by T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris<\/a> this week that significant numbers of migrants were in emergency accommodation who \u201cdon\u2019t have a housing right\u201d. <\/p>\n

It called on Mr Harris to \u201cat the very least clarify his comments\u201d. <\/p>\n

The latest data, published on Friday by the Department of Housing<\/a>, shows that during the week of November 24th to 30th there were 16,996 people living in emergency accommodation. That represents an increase of more than 200 in a month, from 16,766 in October. The number of homeless children is up from 5,274 in October and from 4,658 in November 2024.<\/p>\n

This is the 11th consecutive increase since the start of last year, when the number was 15,286. It represents an 11.8 per cent increase since November 2024, when there were 15,199 people homeless.<\/p>\n

None of these figures include people sofa surfing, sleeping rough, in domestic violence refuges or stuck in International Protection Accommodation Service<\/a> (IPAS) accommodation despite having been recognised as refugees. <\/p>\n

These figures show there were 11,675 homeless adults, of whom 7,382 (63 per cent) were single without child dependents. Almost 70 per cent of these, 5,036, were concentrated in Dublin. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Opposition criticises T\u00e1naiste over comments linking homelessness to immigrationOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Similarly, child and family homelessness is concentrated in the capital. Of the more than 5,000 homeless children, 3,939 (74 per cent) were in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Looking at the citizenship of homeless adults, the report shows half (5,846) were Irish, 30 per cent (3,504) were from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and 20 per cent (2,325) were from the EEA\/UK. <\/p>\n

Those from outside the EEA who are here on work permits or have been granted refugee status have right to access housing supports, say those working in the sector.<\/p>\n

Mike Allen, head of advocacy at Focus Ireland, said comments suggesting otherwise by the T\u00e1naiste were \u201cwrong\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe head of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive [Mary Hayes] has already said he is wrong on this matter, and Focus Ireland fully supports her view that he is wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not helpful to have a senior politician make such an incorrect claim, and he should at the very least clarify his comments,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision on applications are directed to centres operated by IPAS.<\/p>\n

Roughan MacNamara, head of media and communication with Focus Ireland<\/a>, said a situation where 5,321 children were beginning 2026 from emergency accommodation was \u201cheartbreaking\u201d.<\/p>\n

For many it was their second or even third new year in this plight. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is wrong and we can \u2013 and must \u2013 end this human crisis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Alice Leahy: I have learned there is no single story about being homelessOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Simon Communities of Ireland expressed \u201cdeep concern\u201d at the latest figures showing a further rise in homelessness.<\/p>\n

The organisation\u2019s executive director, Ber Grogan, said: \u201cAs we enter 2026, it is unacceptable that so many in Ireland are facing the year without a place to call home. These figures are a stark reminder that we must act urgently to provide support, affordable housing, and long-term solutions.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in housing spokesman Eoin \u00d3 Broin said the Government\u2019s approach to housing was \u201cdriving record increases in homelessness\u201d. <\/p>\n

Social and affordable housing targets were \u201ctoo low\u201d and were \u201cbeing missed year on year\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no homeless prevention strategy in place. Funding for vital homeless prevention schemes such as tenant-in-situ has been cut. And the new tender for the Dublin housing first programme continues to be delayed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Social Democrats spokesman Rory Hearne said: \u201cThis is the result after one full year of this Government. It is truly disgraceful. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t prioritised homelessness and are too busy trying to come up with excuses while blaming vulnerable groups for their failures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The number of homeless people in the State continues to climb, having reached almost 17,000 people, including 5,321…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,52,18,13,14,96717,6,24081,8752,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-263823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-dublin","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-focus-ireland","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-homeless-crisis","17":"tag-housing-crisis","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115826920414741594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}