A new study is calling for a limit on how long children can be placed in emergency accommodation.

The Family and Child Homelessness report will be launched today.

The report, drafted by the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs will call for a new national family homeless strategy that is primarily focused on the needs of children.

It warns that children can become institutionalised by spending too long in hotels and temporary accommodation – and points to laws in other jurisdictions which set out strict time limits for children in “unsuitable temporary accommodation.”

The report also criticises one-night only accommodation, which it warns is “the most detrimental form of emergency accommodation.”

Fianna Fail spokesperson on children and youth affairs, Anne Rabbitte said long term stays in emergency accommodation can have a big impact on families.

“Nothing over six months,” she said. “At the very minimum nothing should be over six months in hubs of temporary accommodation.”

“What we fear and run the risk of is institutionalising our young children – that they don’t know anything different; that it actually becomes the norm, this co-living space.

“Not having their own front door basically, that is what it is.

“It talks about the stress that it is putting on parents and the impact on young children in relation to their education going forward.”

The report will set out a number of recommendations on how the impact on children and young people could be alleviated in the short and long term.