We spent €493.6million on emergency housing for the homeless last year - up 570 per cent on ten years ago. Yet the housing minister claims what his opponents brand a 'runaway train' on costs is actually 'the plan working'

Published: 21:40, 26 May 2026 | Updated: 21:40, 26 May 2026 ‘Runaway’ spending on homelessness services has soared by 570% in the last ten years, the Mail can reveal. The cost of emergency accommodation from private and third-party providers reached a staggering €493.6million last year. It comes amid growing fears a pipeline of homeless presentations is building, and will drive costs up even further over the next 12 months. Details of how much the Government spent on emergency accommodation last year were provided to Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin this week. The TD said the figures were a ‘damning indictment of the Government’s failure to get a grip on the homelessness crisis’. It is the first time the costs of emergency accommodation for 2025 have been published, and the official records have yet to appear on the Department of Housing’s website. Mr Ó Broin told the Mail that spending on emergency housing is becoming a ‘runaway train’. He said: ‘The exponential rise in expenditure on emergency accommodation – particularly the huge sums of money being given to low-quality providers – is utterly unacceptable.’ The Dublin Mid-West TD expects costs will continue to rise this year, unless more is done to prevent and end homelessness. Across all nine regions where spending is tracked, the cost of homelessness accommodation services reached record highs last year. In Dublin, where 6,000 people were housed in emergency settings in March, costs surpassed €350million for the first time. The Department of Housing provides funding to local councils, which then arrange and buy temporary housing for families. Local authorities pay at least 10% towards the overall cost. Since 2015, the cost of emergency accommodation has grown by 570%. A key factor appears to be nightly rates, charged by private providers to public bodies, depending on the number housed at the centre. The cost to house a family in an emergency four-bedroom home is up to €15,000 a month, or €180,000 a year, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) confirmed last year. Meanwhile, a recent report by property website Daft.ie found the average market rent for a two-bedroom flat is now €2,100 per month. Mr Ó Broin claimed the decision to cut funding for tenant-in-situ arrangements, a homelessness prevention measure, has also led to increases in costs. He said: ‘If the Government focused on reducing the number of people becoming homeless, and getting people out of homelessness quickly, this expenditure would be falling. ‘The problem is that one of James Browne’s first acts as Minister for Housing was to slash funding for vital homeless prevention supports. ‘[Mr Browne] also missed the social housing targets and introduced controversial new legislation, which has led to higher rents, rental inflation and evictions.’ Mr Browne recently defended the changes to rent rules, saying: ‘If we didn’t make changes, we were never going to solve this housing crisis.’ The Fianna Fáil minister cited increases in building completions, commencements and first-time buyer mortgages, and added: ‘The plan is working.’ But Mr Ó Broin said it is likely ‘the costs of emergency accommodation will keep rising’ if market rents are not cut, and if more social housing units are not provided. He cited recent changes to the rental market rules, an increased number of evictions and thousands of tenant disputes, which have yet to be resolved. Cumulatively, temporary housing settings have cost the State €4.9billion over the last ten years. The annual figure for emergency accommodation has gone from €73,445,989 in 2015 to €493,655,077 last year. There was a small dip in costs between 2021 and 2022, when funding for these arrangements was temporarily reduced. Between 2015 and 2025, the number of people presenting to emergency accommodation continued to rise, reaching a then-record high last November of 16,996. There has continued to be an exponential rise in presentations this year, with 17,517 people, including over 5,500 children, in emergency housing as of March. Daft.ie’s recent rent report found market rents are now 80% higher than ten years ago. It comes after landlords were granted permission to set rents at market rates between tenancies. The Residential Tenancies Board has also reported that the highest number of notices to quit were handed down to tenants ahead of the new rental rules coming into force this month. Government figures, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister Browne, rejected claims the increases are linked to the new rules. Mr Martin pointed to an increase in the number of new tenancies in the first three months of this year, and claimed the higher eviction rates were linked to a ‘natural churn’ in the market. A spokesman for the Department of Housing, in a lengthy statement to the Mail, said supporting homeless people and preventing homelessness is ‘an absolute priority’ for Mr Browne. He cited the Government’s new housing plan, which commits to a ‘cross-departmental approach’ to preventing homelessness through continued investment in social housing. He highlighted a €373million fund for the tenant-in-situ programme, which has ring-fenced €150million for families with children to exit homelessness. The Department of Housing rejected claims the new rental rules have contributed to rental inflation, eviction notices or higher rent prices. ‘This Government has committed to providing emergency accommodation to all those who need it,’ the spokesman said. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.