The Simon Communities of Ireland says we urgently need a Minister for Housing with a seat at the cabinet.
The homelessness charity is making the call after new figures show there's been a rise of almost 50% in the numbers of people in emergency accommodation.
The Department of the Environment says 5,715 adults were being offered crisis housing in January, a 49% increase on the same figure for last year.
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There are 1830 children (a year on year increase of 111%) and 884 families (a year on year increase of 120%) in emergency accommodation.
Spokesperson Niamh Randall says it proves that measures aimed at tackling homelessness are failing:
