Photograph: Alan BetsonThe 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. There were 14,864 people, including 4,510 children, and 2,092 families, accessing emergency accommodation in December 2024. The latest report shows more than 60 per cent of homeless adults were men. 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. 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.
