LAST UPDATE | 31 Oct 2025

THE NUMBER OF people in emergency accommodation increased last month to 16,614.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Housing, 11,376 adults and 5,238 children were in emergency accommodation in September.

This figure also includes 2,443 families.

It represents an increase of 261 people compared to the previous month’s figures, which saw a record 16,353 people in emergency accommodation, including 5,145 children. 

The Simon Communities of Ireland (SCI) has expressed “grave concern” at the new record high.

It noted that over the past year, the number of people living in emergency accommodation has increased by close to 13%, an increase of 1,854 people.

There’s also been a near 15% increase in the number of children in emergency accommodation, up 677 over the same period. 

“The number of children experiencing homelessness shamefully surpassed 5,000 in July 2025, followed by a dramatic increase of 131 more children in August,” said the SCI.

Its executive director Ber Grogan said “successive governments have failed the children of Ireland and should be ashamed”.

“Children should be thinking about dressing up and going trick or treating, not wondering where they’ll sleep tonight.

“Families should be planning fun activities – not counting how many nights they have left in an emergency bed. Young people should be starting their lives, not starting adulthood in homelessness.

“We urgently need an all of government response to deal with this crisis and save children from the trauma of homelessness.”

Meanwhile, Focus Ireland said “this is a human crisis” and warned that “current measures are insufficient as the numbers continue to rise every month”.

The government’s new housing and homelessness plan is due next month and Focus Ireland said it “must include a radical shift in policy to ensure more is done to prevent homelessness by targeted measures to keep people in their homes”.

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin also called for the new housing plan “to prioritise ending long term homelessness by 2030″.

“To achieve this, the plan must include a dramatic increase in funding for and targets for social and affordable housing,” said Ó Broin.

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“It must also set out clear targets for meeting the 2030 date as recommended by the Homeless Policy Group.”

Meanwhile, Rory Hearne, the Social Democrats housing spokesperson, called for an eviction ban.

“These numbers are the direct result of policy choices made by the government,” said Hearne.

“This is what happens when you do not protect vulnerable renters, or prevent them from becoming homeless.”

He added: “Almost 10,000 notices to quit were issued in the first six months of this year – only an eviction ban can effectively prevent these families from losing the roof over their heads.

“These numbers are real families and real children experiencing serious trauma day in and day out – their plight cannot be ignored any longer.”