The final homeless figures for last year show a small decrease in the number of people living in emergency accommodation compared to November.
Overall, there were 16,734 individuals in emergency accommodation in December compared to 16,996 in November.
This was a decrease of 262 individuals, according to new figures released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
However, groups working with the homeless, including the Dublin Simon Community, say that this dip is unlikely to signal a lasting improvement and a slight reduction over the Christmas period has been witnessed before.
Commenting on the figures, Dublin Simon Community chief executive Catherine Kenny said the short-term dip "does not change the reality that thousands of people remain without a safe, secure place to call home".
Of those homeless in December 2025, more than 11,546 were adults and 5,188 were children.
Whilst the majority in homeless emergency accommodation (7,311) were single individuals, more than a quarter of them (2,478) were families.
More than 60% of those adults in emergency accommodation were male (6,963), whilst close to 40% were female (4,583).
Almost half of adults in emergency accommodation were Irish (5,734) with the next biggest category, almost a third, coming from outside of the European Economic Area (3,523).
A further 20% came from within the EEA or the UK (2,289).
In terms of age groups, the majority of adult homeless people or 53.1% were aged between 25 and 44 (6,136).
Just over 2,000 people or 17.5% were young homeless people aged between 18 and 24.
The majority (70.9%) of adults in homeless accommodation were in the Dublin region, with more than 8,184 adults recorded as homeless in December.
The next highest region was the South West including Cork City and Kerry where there were 777 adults in homeless accommodation (6.7%)
The figures show that 2,835 individuals were either prevented from entering emergency accommodation through the creation of a secure tenancy or exited from emergency accommodation to a secure tenancy in the third quarter of last year.
This figure included 1,687 adults and 1,148 children.
Dublin Simon says recent years have shown a consistent pattern, with numbers falling slightly between November and December as some people find temporary alternatives over the Christmas period, before rising again early in the new year.
Ms Kenny said: "Again we see in December's figure a slight reduction due to the Christmas period. Homelessness is driven by a range of overlapping factors, from financial pressure and rising living costs to health challenges, family breakdown, domestic violence, trauma and addiction."
"This is the third year in a row we have seen a decrease at this point in the year, only for numbers to rise again in January and continue climbing. Month-to-month fluctuations should not distract from the urgent need for sustained, long-term solutions that reflect the complexity of people’s lives," she said.
'Deeply disruptive, damaging to children'
Social Democrats Rory Hearne described today’s homeless figures as "very, very disappointing".
He said "disgracefully there are over 1,000 children who have been in emergency accommodation for over two years. Two years of their lives lost, that is deeply, deeply disruptive, damaging to children."
Mr Hearne said that the figures didn't capture the numbers of families presenting as homeless due to evictions.
Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin has said homeless figures will dramatically increase this year due to the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Bill (RTB).
"What is particularly disturbing this week is that Government have agreed legislation that is actually going to drive hundreds and hundreds more singles and families into homelessness," he said.
"Not only is the Government’s housing plan failing, leading to record levels of homeless adults and children, they’re pushing through legislation with limited Dáil scrutiny that is actually going to make things in 2026 considerably worse than in 2025."
The Labour Party’s Conor Sheehan acknowledged the fall in the December numbers but said: "We know and expect that the figure will go back to being a real term increase next month and the month after that."
He added that homeless single people aged over 65 are the fastest growing cohort at the moment.
Mr Sheehan said he wrote to Minister for Housing James Browne, requesting that the market reset mechanism to be removed from the RTB, and for a rent brake amendment to be introduced.
Minister for Housing James Browne said: "Supporting people experiencing homelessness to find a permanent home is my top priority, which is why the Government's new housing plan has a clear focus on ending homelessness.
"We are moving forward on a number of fronts to deliver the right actions to tackle homelessness and increase the supply of accommodation, including providing greater numbers of social housing, delivering more affordable homes and progressing the residential tenancies Bill this week, which will provide stronger tenant protections as well as grow the supply of rental accommodation available."
