There's a new record for the number of people living in emergency accommodation.
State figures show there were 13,531 people registered as homeless last month.
The numbers from the Department of Housing for January 2024 are 15 percent higher than a year ago.
It shows there were 9,504 homeless adults last month, while there were 4,027 children growing up in emergency accommodation.
In Dublin the issue is most acute where 73% of the state's registered homeless are.
The state figures also show there are 197 people over the age of 65 who are registered as homeless.
The totals don't include refugees, asylum seekers, women in refuge centres, the so-called hidden homeless or rough sleepers.
"Devastating"
Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon, says: "The latest figures show that after a slight expected seasonal decrease of 1.5% nationally over the Christmas period, we have now returned to what is shockingly considered to be ‘normal’ in our society today – another upward turn in figures.
"Dublin alone now has close to 10,000 men, women and children homeless. This is a devastating figure for our capital city. These people are now facing into a new year full of uncertainly and doubt at a time when most other people are looking towards a brighter future.
"December’s decrease was expected as those in homelessness are often offered shelter and respite by relatives, communities, or friends over the Christmas period.
"These festive supports are often not sustainable into the new year, so what we are seeing now is a return to the national post-Christmas upward trend of people in homelessness, and alarming figures – to which many people in our society have become desensitised to.
"Those experiencing homelessness are under immense pressure like never before. They are trapped between a rock and a hard place with high house prices and cost of living pressures on one side, and a seriously low supply of social and affordable housing on the other.
"People are being failed over and over again by the system and the detrimental effects of long-term stays in emergency accommodation on mental and physical health are well documented. This has manifested as a feeling of paralysis and lack of move on for families into homes as a stagnated housing system leads to the stalling of so many hopes and dreams.’’
