The number of people moved from homelessness into long-term accommodation run by the homeless charity Depaul last year rose by 39%.
According to its latest Impact Report, 1,012 people were supported by DePaul to exit homelessness last year, compared to 726 in 2023.
Depaul prioritises providing people immediate access to permanent housing, without preconditions like sobriety, employment, or participation in treatment programs according to the charity.
In 2024, 9,836 people were supported by the Depaul across the island of Ireland, which was a 15% decrease on the previous year.
However, there was a 26% increase in the number of key-working sessions delivered through over 50,000 one-to-one engagement in mental health and addiction supports.
Despite interventions, Depaul has warned of longer waiting lists, increased traumas, and deeper mental health and addiction needs amongst service users.
In 2024, 706 service users reported mental health concerns, 257 disclosed suicidal thoughts, and frontline staff responded to 135 incidents of self-harm.
Programme to access mental health and addiction supports
The charity introduced a programme called Headstrong, to improve access to mental health and addiction supports for people experiencing homelessness.
However, Depaul Senior Services Manager Niamh Thornton has said demand is growing faster than resources allow, and without significant investment in mental health and addiction services, she said "many people will continue to fall through the cracks".
Depaul supported 2,166 children and 1,138 families in services in 2024. Sixteen babies were born into its homeless services last year, compared to 18 in 2023.
The charity has warned that children are being deprived not only of stability, but also of the tailored support they need to thrive by living in emergency accommodation.
The "sheer scale and complexity" of overlapping crises - child poverty back at recession-era levels and over 5,000 children trapped in homelessness services - means "too many children are growing up without the stability, safety, and tailored support they urgently need", according to Depaul's Director of Services at Depaul Dermot Murphy.
"Children are quite literally spending their formative years in homelessness centres. This is deeply troubling because we know that experiencing homelessness in childhood has long-lasting effects: it is linked to poorer mental well-being and a higher risk of homelessness in adulthood.
"Unless urgent, radical action is taken, today's crisis will become a flashpoint of intergenerational homelessness that will echo for decades," he said.
There was a significant increase in the number of people who offered their time to DePaul in 2024.
Volunteers increased by 49% (231 in 2024 compared to 155 in 2023). While volunteer hours also rose by 18.3% to 20,192 hours.
In a statement, the charity's CEO David Carroll said homelessness was neither inevitable nor acceptable.
Mr Carroll said public housing supply was far behind where it needed to be and this would be "the reality" for some time.
He said it meant that organisations like Depaul "must continue to step in to meet people where they are at, often at the very worst points in their lives".
"From those leaving prison with nowhere to turn, to families evicted and unable to afford escalating rents, we provide people with safety, a place to call home and the necessary wraparound supports to enable them to build better futures," he said.
