More than 14,000 people are registered as homeless in Ireland for the first time.
The State has released its emergency accommodation statistics this afternoon.
4,206 children are growing up in emergency accommodation nationally - which is 17 percent higher than a year ago.
The overall total for the State - 14,009 people registered as homeless - is 14 per cent up on the total from the Department of Housing a year ago.
The rate of growth of the number of homeless people registered is stagnant over the past couple of month - but has slowed compared with 12 months ago, when it was at more than 20 per cent.
The issue is most acute in Dublin where there are more than 10,000 people registered as homeless.
Ministers continually say housing and reducing the numbers registered as homeless is a top priority for Government.
The state's figures don't include women in refuge centres, refugees, asylum seekers, rough sleepers and the so-called hidden homeless.
