Housing is a human right — yet Ireland ends 2025 with record homelessness
Without a fully integrated housing, health and social response, Ireland risks another year of rising homelessness — and thousands are now staring down a cold, bleak Christmas without a safe home.
Dublin, 28th of November 2025: While the recently published housing plan sets out how the Government intends to address the crisis, the final homelessness report of the year shows that the crisis continues to deepen. Dublin Simon Community has warned that Ireland is closing 2025 without the coordinated housing, health, and social supports required to reduce numbers. With the winter already biting, people are again being left to survive in freezing conditions on the streets and unsecured accommodation. Many are fearful that the new housing plan will not reverse the trend of ever-increasing homelessness, but the record-breaking 16,766 people in emergency accommodation require immediate action.
Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community, said, “We are finishing the year almost exactly as we began with homelessness rising, with emergency accommodation stretched to its limits and with people forced to sleep in the cold. Nobody should be sleeping on the streets in Ireland in 2025. Nobody should be raising a child in a hotel room. And nobody should end another year without the basic security of a place to live. Housing is a basic human right – yet thousands have no certainty of a safe, warm place tonight or at Christmas. More people than ever before are facing the festive season without a place to call home, including 7,278 single adults and 5,274 children. In a country with Ireland’s resources, this should be unthinkable.”
Kenny said the final release of the year should prompt a broader reflection on the trajectory of the crisis:
“2025 has been another year of missed opportunities. The Government has set out ambitions for social and affordable housing, and Budget 2026 brought welcome funding for homelessness. But unless these commitments are delivered quickly, at-scale and in a joined-up way — across housing, health, mental health, addiction and community supports — the overall numbers will not fall.”
Latest figures
The latest data from the Department of Housing confirms 16,766 individuals are now in emergency accommodation nationwide. 12,024 were recorded in Dublin, representing a staggering 11% year-on-year increase.
The latest report also includes 1,750 families and 3,883 children living in emergency accommodation in Dublin, a figure that does not even account for those rough sleeping, in insecure accommodation, individuals in domestic violence shelters, or those in hidden homelessness—people sleeping in tents, cars, on couches, or in unsuitable living conditions.
Dublin Simon warned that the ongoing dependence on emergency and cold-weather responses highlights the lack of emphasis on long-term solutions.
Kenny added, “A Housing plan is only as strong as its implementation. We need to see the promised homes delivered at scale, and the right supports provided alongside them. Otherwise, we will be here again next winter, watching the figures rise and knowing it could have been prevented. We need urgent delivery on these renewed commitments. People cannot wait another year.”
Dublin Simon Community is calling on Government and local authorities to:
- prioritise immediate housing allocations for long-term emergency residents;
- accelerate the delivery of social and affordable homes in line with the national strategy;
- introduce a coordinated, cross-departmental framework to tackle homelessness as the multi-layered crisis it is.