Latest homeless figures show another rise in the number of people who accessed emergency accommodation last month.
In June, Ireland's homeless population reached 15,915 according to figures from the Department of Housing.
It is an increase of 168 compared to May.
Last month, there were 4,958 children and 10,957 adults in emergency accommodation.
The number of families experiencing homelessness was 2,320.
'Childhoods stolen one day at a time'
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said it was "heartbreaking" that nearly 5,000 children were having their "childhoods stolen one day at a time" and called for more urgency from the Government to help ease this human crisis.
"We should always take time to remember that behind every single number is a man, woman or child suffering the trauma of losing their home. Homelessness hurts everyone and it hurts children the most."
Meanwhile, the Salvation Army has warned that the childhoods of thousands of children are being "suppressed" by the homeless crisis.
The Christian church and charity, one of the biggest providers of emergency accommodation in Dublin, said the grim statistics conceal a "truly awful impact" on children.
According to Department of Housing figures for June there are 1,626 homeless families in Dublin (up from 1,589 in May), including 3,666 children - a rise of 77 on May's figure of 3,589.
The Salvation Army’s Homeless Services Ireland Lead Erene Williamson said that in places such as Houben House in Harold's Cross, Ireland’s largest homeless family hub, "staff do their utmost to make living conditions as normal as possible for kids".
"We have a diverse range of activities organised to occupy them, but the fact remains that every day they are not living independently, their childhoods are being suppressed.
"That removal of a vital part of growing up is particularly acute during the summer holidays."
'For a rich country, it's so inappropriate'
Ber Grogan, Executive Director of Simon Communites of Ireland, said it is "so shocking" that there is almost 5,000 children in emergency accommodation, but the figure would be higher "with the numbers of hidden homeless".
"For a rich country, it's so inappropriate," she said.
"This is something that the Government does have control over, we could reduce the numbers of children experiencing homelessness very drastically and very quickly."
Ms Grogan said there is also a sharp increase in the number of people older than 65 in emergency accommodation: "In the overall scheme of things, 249 people over 65 doesn't seem like that large a group.
"But it has increased by more than 100% in the five years since 2020."
She said Simon Communities and other charities have highlighted to the Government and policymakers about "people retiring into homelessness", unable to afford rents on their pension.
"We do flag this at an early stage and we have been flagging it for a while, but now the figures are showing that children and over-65s are the two fastest growing cohorts of people being forced to experience the trauma of homelessness," she said.
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Tenant in Situ scheme halved figures
The latest figures show that the number of people prevented from homelessness through the Tenant in Situ scheme in the last year has halved.
This resulted in much criticism from opposition TDs and the Simon Communities, which said it was as a result of the Minister scaling back funding to local authorities.
In response, the Department of Housing said the Government "remained committed" to continue having the Tenant in Situ scheme as an option for local authorities.
While it stated that acquisition targets were set for each local authority in 2023 and 2024, capital funding allocations were being provided in 2025.
"Earlier this year, at the request of Minister (James) Browne, Minister (Jack) Chambers agreed to allocate an additional €265m for such acquisitions, bringing the budget for 2025 to €325m.
"To date, overall, of the €325 million available for 2025, local authorities have drawdown only 36% of the allocated funding and no local authority has exhausted its individual allocated funding," it said.
The Department added that an increased supply of housing - social, affordable and private - "remains the ultimate solution" to addressing the challenge of homelessness.
It concluded that continued funding for second hand acquisitions is part of almost €2 billion which is supporting the delivery of new social homes in 2025.
