Focus Ireland has accused the Government of “obscuring the cost” of its failure to reduce homelessness.
The charity said that organisations working in the sector are left “permanently on the edge of crisis”.
It comes as the number of people supported by the homeless charity increased by 12.5 per cent in the last year.
According to the annual Focus Ireland report, some 18,000 people engaged with the group over the last 12 months.
Focus Ireland receives funding from the state as well as donors, including corporate sponsors and one-off donors.
CEO Pat Dennigan said that by the end of December 2023 a total of 13,318 people, including 3,162 children, were homeless, with many more at risk of becoming homeless.
“Throughout 2023, our services supported 18,000 people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless,” he said.
“That’s a 2,000-people increase on 2022 or a 12.5 per cent rise.
“Sadly, the crisis has continued to deepen this year and the latest figures, just issued on Friday, report yet another new record, a total of 14,429 people homeless at the end of July.
“This is an increase of 126 people from the previous month, and a stark 12% rise in the last year since July 2023.
“The Department of Housing figures also showed 4,401 children and 2,096 families homeless.
“The number of children homeless has increased by 15 per cent in the year to the previous July.
“Summer is meant to be a carefree time for children but the harsh reality is that thousands of kids have just started a new school year coming from emergency accommodation, such as hotels and family hubs.
“It is wrong that this is happening. As a society we must demand that much more is done to protect children whose childhoods are being stolen one day at a time.”
He added: “As we have repeatedly pointed out in our pre-budget submissions, the government is not reflecting the true costs of homelessness in their budgets, which are announced in October.
“For instance, the 2023 budget included a provision of €250 million but the final cost was nearly 316 million.
“In the 2024 budget, the 316 million was ignored and a provision was made for 242 million, which was represented as an increase on the previous levels.
“The impact of that is to obscure the enormous cost of the government’s failure to reduce homelessness, but it also has the effect of leaving the entire sector permanently on the edge of crisis, where we do not know our budgets until three quarters of a way through the year.”
The annual report also shows that over 1,850 families engaged with their services, an increase of 11 per cent.
More than 4,223 children were supported by Focus Ireland while 164 young people were supported to exit homelessness.
The figures also show that more than 486 families were supported out of homelessness.
Al Leahy, from Dublin, first contacted Focus Ireland some 20 years ago.
He suffered from addiction issues and became homeless at the age of 35.
After contacting Focus Ireland, the organisation helped him read and write and he went on to study at UCD and complete a certificate in drugs counselling theory and intervention skills.
Speaking at the event, he said he has been “on both sides of the coin”.
“I learned independent living skills, earned my driver’s licence, got a passport and for the first time opened a bank account,” he said.
“I had a childhood with a lot of trauma, both within the family and in the area I grew up in.
“Back in the early 1980s, drugs, unemployment and poverty where rampant in my community. The first time I took a drink, I felt relief from a fear and anxiety I didn’t even know I had.
“It was like lifting all the pressure off me and I felt at peace and a bit of joy, in a life that didn’t have a lot of joy, as a lot of people did back then.
“This progressed into harder substances, but with the help of the staff in George’s Hill in Focus Ireland, I was no longer substance dependent.”
Mr Leahy said he “fell off the wagon” again in 2018 and suffered a mental breakdown.
“I was once again referred back to Focus Ireland and was welcomed back without any judgment.
“Focus Ireland gave me the tools to rebuild my life but I have used these tools to once again work hard to create a life of purpose and to get back to a life of giving, which I know is what gives me the most satisfaction.”
Michael Laid, chairman of the Focus Ireland board, said: “The launch today occurs at a time when, yet again, we have confirmation of a further significant increase in homelessness, a new tragic record.
“I think what is absolutely clear is that if the commitment, and there is a commitment, an explicit commitment to end homelessness by 2030 and it’s part of an overall EU commitment, if we are to achieve that ambition, the increase in homelessness must plateau almost immediately and begin to fall sharply.
“That will require new policies, new approaches and a re-dedication by everybody involved to the task.
“It is a mountain to climb but it’s one that has to be climbed.”
