A NATIONAL emergency response to homelessness is being urged after the latest figures showed there were 660 people in emergency accommodation in Cork in May 2025.
The latest figures, which show there are 4,958 children in emergency accommodation nationwide, have been condemned by opposition politicians and housing campaigners who are demanding swift action to address the worsening crisis.
Figures released by the Department of Housing last week show the number of homeless people in the State has reached another record high and now stands at 15,915.
The figure, which does not include rough sleepers, asylum seekers or those in domestic violence refuges, shows there were 10,957 adults in emergency accommodation in May, with 2,320 families.
‘These numbers are shocking and unacceptable,’ said Senator Aubrey McCarthy, who founded Tiglin, a registered charity that helps people overcome addiction and homelessness.
‘This crisis is not just about housing. It is about the future of our children, families, and communities. Now, we are facing a whole generation missing out on having a
home.
‘We need a whole-of-government and society approach to ensure immediate action is taken.’ Senator McCarthy is calling on the Government to accelerate housing initiatives, expand emergency accommodation, and implement long-term policies to prevent homelessness.
‘We cannot allow another month to pass with record-breaking homelessness figures,’ he said. ‘The Government must act now.’
His challenge to Government comes as it emerged there were 843 housing completions across Cork city and county in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of just 10 on the previous year.
The figures show there were 327 new builds in Cork city, compared to 301 for the same period last year. However the number of new builds across Cork county for the second quarter of 2025 is 516 – down 16 from 532 for the same period last year.
However while acknowledging that there is still ‘more to do’ Fine Gael TD Colm Burke has described the marginal increase as positive and said it ‘shows progress is being made on housing’.
Across the country there were 9,214 new dwellings completed in April, May and June 2025, a rise of 35% on the same period in 2024. Cork lags behind the national average with a net increase of 1.2%.
More than half the completions across the country were scheme dwellings, 33% were apartments, and 17% were single dwellings. The data from the Central Staatistics Office showed that in Q2, 2025, Cork County Council was the local authority with the most single dwelling completions, totalling 152.
Elsewhere the Simon Community revealed that more than 600 households have been evicted into homelessness since the start of the year in Dublin (522), Cork (14), Limerick (77) and Galway (10).
