Number of homeless children in Ireland passes 4,000

The number of homeless children in Ireland has reached a new high

Their findings show that over 4,000 children were homeless in Ireland in 2023.

The Department of Housing published the report on January 5th and it confirmed there are 13, 514.

13,514 people were classed as homeless in the report

There were 2,000 families recorded as homeless, 1,134 of which were single-parent families.

Charities have been urging the government to do more following the release of the concerning figures.

Pat Dennigan of Focus Ireland said the government needs to make major changes now.

He believes the government could reduce the number of homeless families by increasing the number of long-term housing units for those on the homeless list.

Dennigan said 2024 needs to be the year the "Government makes a different approach to homelessness".

"In the last two years, more social housing has been delivered than for many years, but we are not using this resource to its best effect in reducing homelessness.

"If a fairer share of new social housing was allocated to those who have been homeless for long periods, we could reduce the harm caused by homelessness and ensure there was enough temporary accommodation for those who need this form of support," he said.

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