THE DÁIL HAS heard that a new law limiting who qualifies for social housing will lead to a rise in hidden homelessness and people sleeping on the streets. 

The Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 reached second stage in the Dáil this afternoon and was debated by TDs. 

Under the proposed legislation, people applying for social housing will have to prove they are both legally resident and habitually resident in Ireland.

Housing Minister James Browne said the changes are designed to bring greater clarity to the rules around who qualifies for social housing support, while placing existing residency requirements on a statutory footing.

The government has maintained that the Bill simply puts existing practices on a legislative footing. 

Lawful residency requirements already exist in practice (neither illegal immigrants nor international protection seekers are eligible for social housing), but have not previously been set out in legislation.

Under the bill, different residency rules will apply depending on an applicant’s citizenship or immigration status, including Irish, UK, EU and non-EU nationals.

In practice, local authorities will examine factors such as a person’s family connections, employment history and length of time living in Ireland when assessing whether they meet the requirement.

However, members of the Opposition raised a number of concerns about the Bill during this afternoon’s debate.

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the proposed measures are a “knee-jerk reaction to try and somehow massage the figures around emergency accommodation”.

He said the government is either trying to reduce homelessness numbers or “pandering to a rising anti-immigrant sentiment”. 

The Dublin North West TD noted that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), along with a number of homeless organisations, have raised a variety of concerns about the Bill. 

In particular, they raised concerns about an increase in rough sleeping and people being pushed into “vulnerable situations”. 

“If people are denied access to emergency accommodation, then they are not counted as homeless. So what [we are] going to see is a rise in hidden homelessness. It’s going to see a rise in street homelessness, people sleeping in tents, people sleeping on the streets, as a result of these changes,” Hearne said. 

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said one of his party’s principal concerns is that there is a “lack of clarity” around a provision in the Bill that says all residents in a household must be legally resident in the State. 

He said further reassurances are needed that the Bill will not have an unintended detrimental impact on vulnerable groups such as those fleeing domestic violence or people subject to human trafficking. 

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the government has leaned into a narrative that Ireland has a housing crisis because of too many immigrants, rather than because of decades-long government failures. 

“What this bill is about is rationing access to something that there shouldn’t be a shortage of, because it should be a basic right,” he said.