It is outrageous that the Minister for Housing is attempting to remove the safety net of emergency accommodation for those most at risk of sleeping rough, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.
Deputy Hearne said:
“Government amendments to the Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, which will overhaul Ireland’s homelessness legislation, will lead to a rise in rough sleepers. FLAC and Focus Ireland have put this plainly after analysing the changes.
“The amendments will restrict the categories of people who are entitled to access emergency accommodation. This will disproportionately affect communities which already experience disadvantage, discrimination and marginalisation.
“The Government plans on narrowing the entitlement to emergency accommodation will inevitably lead to an increase in destitution. There is no lens through which these changes could be viewed as tackling homelessness.
“This is an obscene move even for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, given the Government’s insistence that it is working to eradicate homelessness. Instead, it is changing the status quo, that a local authority may provide emergency accommodation to any person who meets the statutory definition of a ‘homeless person’, to suit their agenda and claim homelessness is decreasing.
“Rough sleepers are not captured by monthly homelessness figures. This legislation is a cynical move to artificially deflate the gargantuan levels of homelessness depicted by the figures released by the Department on the last Friday of every month.
“The Government is introducing these devastating amendments at the very last stage of this legislation, Report Stage, leaving little to no time for debate or consultation. The Minister for Housing is refusing to listen to advice from legal experts and advocacy groups, opting instead to ram this legislation through without opportunity for scrutiny.
“Some of the most vulnerable members of society, including victims of domestic abuse and trafficking, will bear the brunt of these changes. The Government’s reckless behaviour is beyond inexcusable, disproportionately affecting communities that are wracked with poverty.
“It is not too late for the Minister to see how harmful this legislation is and rethink it. Making survival more difficult for those at risk of homelessness will not solve the housing crisis – it will exacerbate it.”
July 8th, 2026