Simon Week kicks off in Cork

The southwest has one of the highest rates of single adult homelessness in the country with more than 550 people stuck in emergency accommodation in Cork and Kerry, a seminar on Leeside heard this week.

The seminar, Single Adult Homelessness – Who Cares?, organised by Cork Simon Community, brought together policy analysts, researchers, and frontline practitioners to focus on practical steps to prevent single adult homelessness.

Recent figures show 7% of single adults exit emergency accommodation to tenancies.

“For every one person moving on, two newly homeless people arrive. It’s effectively one step forward, two steps back,” highlighted Sophie Johnston, Cork Simon researcher. “More than 50% of single adults in emergency accommodation in the Southwest are long-term homeless, stuck in emergency accommodation for six months or more; many for over two years.”

Single adults not only dominate emergency accommodation, but they also make up the majority of people on social housing waiting lists. In Cork city 65% on the list are single adults.

Supply

Housing supply has not kept pace with demand—or with changing demographics. There is a clear and growing need for one- and two-bed homes. Yet one-bed homes account for just 7% of stock.

More than 7,000 single adults are currently living in emergency accommodation in Ireland, the highest on record. Meanwhile, Ireland has the third highest rate of under-occupied homes in the EU—66%.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O'Sullivan, said a new National Housing Plan is taking shape, which “recognises the urgent need to reduce the number of households experiencing homelessness, as well as the time spent in emergency accommodation”.

He added: “A record level of capital investment has been provided in 2025, with overall capital funding of almost €6.8 billion to support the delivery of social, affordable, and cost rental homes.

“Government does care about homelessness. No one can honestly stand here and claim to be proud of the figures, which are increasing month by month. But the focus is there. We understand the challenges, especially the barriers in delivering housing at scale,” highlighted Minister O'Sullivan.

Speaking to the Cork Independent, Government Spokesperson on Housing, Fianna Fáil TD Seamus McGrath said he has been dealing with the problem for 17 years before he got elected.

He added: “I know myself the challenges of trying to secure accommodation for single adults—especially those who don’t have dependants. You’re only entitled to a one-bed property, and unfortunately the supply of those is very limited.

“They have to wait longer to get properties. It is unacceptable. Today we need to be supplying 50-60,000 properties per year, and we’re not doing that. We’re falling behind in terms of supply, unfortunately, and in terms of demand,” he added.

Losing young people

Labour Party Senator Laura Harmon said: “We’re losing a lot of young people because of the housing crisis. Three of my younger sisters have left the country. They don’t see a future here. We need to protect renters, to ensure we keep them in their homes and prevent homelessness. We can’t have a whole generation of pensioners renting in the future. It’s a ticking time bomb.”

There are 16,058 people homeless in Ireland. A report, Deaths among people who were homeless at time of death in Ireland 2021, presented at the event, showed that men accounted for the majority of deaths (80.5%). The median age of death was just 43 years—44 for men, 37 for women.

Cathy Kelleher from the Health Research Board and Dr Fiona Riordan also noted that most of those who died (70.3%) were single, and two in three (66.4%) were alone at the time of death.

Dr Maura Duggan, who has dedicated more than 20 years to assisting homeless people, warned that prolonged homelessness reduces the success of treatment and increases the risks of mental illness, addiction, and serious deterioration of health. “We cannot effectively treat people who sleep in a tent, actively using substances and have no stability,” she said.

A consultant psychiatrist, Dr Duggan has been part of the HSE Adult Integrated Homeless Team since its establishment in 2002. She said the loss of an addiction counsellor from the team has been a major blow.

“We don’t have one at present. It’s a huge loss to the service. We see a marked deterioration in physical and mental health in people since becoming homeless, and they are more likely to escalate substance abuse.”

Ber Grogan, Executive Director of Simon Communities of Ireland, stressed the urgent need for reform: “Single adults remain the most exposed to long stays in emergency accommodation, rough sleeping, and the revolving door between services. They are too often left navigating homelessness alone, disproportionately exposed to mental and physical ill-health.”

The seminar in Cork also marked the launch of Simon Week 2025, a national campaign by Simon Communities of Ireland to mobilise local support in tackling homelessness.