The number of people accessing emergency homeless accommodation has reached a new high, in the last snapshot from before the Government’s rental reforms were introduced. The total is made up of 11,851 adults and 5,457 children, both at record levels. The number of people accessing emergency accommodation has been increasing steadily for years and the monthly figures published by the Department of Housing do not account for people sleeping rough or those staying in hospitals, asylum centres or domestic violence shelters. The figures give a sense of pressures on homeless services just before the Government’s rental reforms came into effect at the start of March. It means the number of people using emergency homeless accommodation has almost tripled in the last 10 years, with the overall figure being 5,811 at the end of February 2016.

Source: Irish Independent March 27, 2026 18:21 UTC