Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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681. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of people considered “hidden homeless” (for example in temporary, insecure or unsuitable living situations but not counted in official statistics); and whether the Department accepts that the true scale of homelessness is significantly under-reported. [23334/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of local authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities.

My Department currently gathers and publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by local authorities. These reports are based on data provided by local authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS). The monthly homelessness report includes details of individuals, families and the dependants of these families who accessed local authority emergency accommodation during the relevant count week of the month in question. The most recently published data is in respect of March 2025. The reports are collated on a regional basis and are available on my Department's website at the following link: and are also published to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform & Digitalisation open data portal .

Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area are provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The Summary brings together information, across a range of categories, provided by local authorities that are qualified for social housing support but whose social housing need is not currently being met. It is a point-in-time assessment of the identified need for social housing support across the country.

SSHA reports since 2016 are available at including the most recent summary conducted in November 2024.

Increasing supply is key to addressing homelessness. Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. This is demonstrated by the record level of investment which is being provided for the delivery of Housing in 2025, with overall capital funding available of €6.8 billion. The capital provision is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address housing need.