There has been a 19% increase in child homelessness in Dublin alone in the last year, new figures out on Friday have shown.

More than 17,500 people are now without a home, including 5,500 children, official figures show. More than 12,000 people in Dublin alone are living without a secure place to live.

Irish citizens make up less than half of the adults in emergency accommodation, with 5,591 or 49.8% being Irish and the remaining foreign-born.

The data from the Department of Housing shows that homelessness levels have continued to climb, with the number of people in emergency accommodation increasing to 209 last month – reaching a record-high of 17,517.

2,321 adults in emergency accommodation are from the EEA/UK (19.4 pc) and 3,674 adults were from outside the EEA (30.8%).

Family homelessness has also spiked by 20 per cent (447) over the year, since March 2025.

This week, the Dáil heard that one in 10 of Ireland’s homeless are in emergency accommodation in one street – with some 7,000 of the State’s 16,000 homeless in Dublin’s north inner city.

The Dáil heard that there are 1,700 emergency accommodation beds “on barely half a kilometre stretch of road” on Gardiner Street. 

The principal of Gardiner Street Primary School told RTE’s Prime Time that some 20 per cent of the children at the school are living in emergency homeless accommodation.

He said: “What’s happening on Gardiner Street is a blight on this republic.”

According to the latest homelessness figures, 59.7% of adults in emergency accommodation are men and 40.3% are women.

Average rent in Dublin city has reached €2.700 for an apartment, with supply falling to record lows. 

Nationwide, house prices rose at an annualised rate of 7 per cent in January, while the average price of a home in the capital has reached €600.000. Prices continue to be fuelled by a lack of supply.