The number of homeless people in the State has climbed to another record high, now standing at 14,303 including more than 4,400 children.
The latest data, published on Friday by the Department of Housing, shows there were 9,899 adults and 4,404 children in homeless accommodation last month.
The figures do not include rough-sleepers, those in domestic violence refuges or the more than 2,400 homeless asylum seekers.
The figures represent an increase of 144 people since May, when 14,159 were homeless, but an increase of almost 1,000 since December 2023, when the total was 13,318.
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This time last year, there were 12,600 people, including 3,765 children, listed as homeless. The latest figure represents an increase of 1,703 homeless people in a single year.
In Dublin, a total of 10,396 people, including 3,285 children, were counted as homeless last month – up from 9,265 people including 2,841 homeless children in June 2023.
The figures for last month show that Irish-born people account for just over half (54 per cent) of all the homeless, with the rest coming from either the EU or the UK (23 per cent) or farther afield (23 per cent).
Some 223 people living in emergency accommodation last month were over 65 years of age, while 53 per cent (5,228) were aged between 25 and 44.
A further 2,734 were aged between 45 and 64 while 1,714 were aged between 18 and 24.
Some 61 per cent of homeless adults were male, and 39 per cent were female.
The number of homeless single adults stands at 6,448, of whom 4,544 are in Dublin.
Rebecca Hamilton, policy analyst at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the “shocking yet unsurprising” figures represent “another unprecedented level of homelessness”.
She said the absence of a secure and safe home is “devastating”, often leading to isolation, and poor physical and mental health.
“It is possible to end homelessness. However, without a change in approach to tackling homelessness, we can expect it to continue to rise. Month on month, the Simon Communities of Ireland highlight how this crisis demands emergency action.
Hamilton said the Budget 2025 “must reflect the crisis we are in” by including increased investment in social housing, homeless prevention and health support for those experiencing homelessness.
Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan, meanwhile, called on the Government to implement a policy that ensures that some of the new supply of social housing is used to provide homes for long-term homeless families.
“This same approach drove the sharp fall in homelessness during the pandemic.
“Unless we do learn from what we know works, the number of families and children who are homeless for long periods will continue to rise each month despite the great work being done by Focus Ireland, other NGOS and the State to end homelessness for more households,” he said.
Catherine Kenny, chief executive of Dublin Simon Community, said the steady increase in those living in emergency accommodation alongside a rise in rough sleeping in Dublin “paints a dire picture of our failure to protect the most vulnerable”.
“It is not enough to say that housing is a challenge in this country – we all know it is – the question is what the Government intends to do about it in the months before we go to the polls. The time for action is now,” she said.
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