New monthly figures from the Department of Housing show over 5,000 children will be homeless this Christmas, and Focus Ireland urges that the Government’s new housing plan must deliver for the sake of these children.
5 December 2025
ONE OF IRELAND’S leading homelessness charities, Focus Ireland, warns that for many children this will be their second or third Christmas without a home and living in emergency accommodation.
Focus Ireland states that families are spending more time than originally intended in emergency accommodation like hotels or homeless shelters due to the lack of affordable and available housing, which has resulted in more and more children being in long-term homelessness.
The Charity’s recent report states that homelessness figures are the highest they have ever been with 16,766 people experiencing homelessness in October 2025, and 5,274 of these are children belonging to 2,484 families.
Focus Ireland CEO, Pat Dennigan, comments on the report stating:
“It is heartbreaking that a record number of 5,274 children will be homeless this Christmas […] Children who are homeless are having their childhoods stolen one day at a time.”
Communications Officer at Focus Ireland, Conor Culkin, also shares his views on the figures stating that:
“We believe this is simply wrong and the lifetime of trauma it has on the children is really stark […] it stays with them, particularly into teenage years, early adulthood years and later on in their life, so we feel that this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
The Department of Housing figures for Child Homelessness over the last 10 years show that the issue is becoming worse with each passing year. In January of 2025, the number of children who were homeless and in emergency accommodation was 4,603, this is more than five the number Ireland had in 2015 where it was 856. From January to October of 2025 there has been a total increase of 14.6%.
Chart: Mariana Figueiredo – Source: Department of Housing Homelessness Data 2015 to 2025 – Created with Google Sheets
Focus Ireland claims the biggest reasons for the increase in child homelessness is due to landlords selling, family break-ups, sometimes domestic violence related break-ups and the extremely high price of rent which low-income families cannot keep up with, which unfortunately means they end up in emergency accommodation.
Speaking about the fundamental impact that this can have on children, Conor Culkin says:
“Many children in emergency accommodation do not get the same joys and luxuries every child should have […] they’re not allowed to invite any of their friends […] it’s really difficult for them to do their homework, they have no space no desk its really confined and it can be really noisy.”
“You have lots of children […] in a small hotel room sharing a communal space […] and as you can imagine its very stressful, particularly if you’re a child.”
Focus Ireland demonstrate below what life is like for a child in emergency accommodation in a recent appeal video.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/aYBaqRej8BE?feature=oembed
The charity warn that urgency and accountability are imperative for the Governments new housing plan and whilst they are satisfied that they have taken the right steps, the lack of clear targets and transparency still causes some concerns.
Focus Ireland states that above all the needs of the children must be prioritised, so that these children can grow up with the security they need and deserve.
If you are at risk of homelessness, know someone who is, or would simply like to donate, please visit the Focus Ireland website for more information.