Dublin Simon Community criticises “shameful” record high homeless figures

Mike Finnerty 31 Oct 2025
The Department of Local Government and Housing

16,614 people availed of homeless services across Ireland in September 2025, breaking the previous all-time record high.

The figure is an increase from the previous set of figures of 16,353.

8,065 of the overall national figure was in Dublin.

5,238 children were in homeless services across Ireland in September 2025.

In August 2021, homeless figures stood at 8,141 nationwide, with 2,189 of those figures being children, marking a doubling of the figures in four years.

The homeless crisis has plagued the last few governments; in 2018, then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar declared the crisis was an “emergency” when figures were sitting below 10,000 nationwide.

The homeless figures do not account for “invisible” homelessness, which may include people sleeping on friends’ and families’ couches or sleeping in their cars.

After the lifting of the no-fault eviction ban in March 2023, homeless figures, which had seen a sharp decline during that temporary measure, started to see a steady rise again and leading to the situation in 2025 where the all-time record high figures have been broken multiple times in 2025.

Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community, noted “these are probably the last set of figures to be announced prior to the Government launching a new housing plan.”
“It is nothing short of shameful that more than 16,614 are currently living through the nightmare of homelessness, with 11,952 in Dublin alone.”
“Homelessness remains at record levels heading into another winter. Every number represents a person without the security of a home. What’s needed is a comprehensive set of measures that combines efforts across housing, health and social care, specific to those in emergency accommodation. This should be outlined in the upcoming housing plan. We cannot afford further delays; the time for action is now. The Government must publish this in the coming weeks.”

 

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