93 families will spend Christmas in emergency accommodation

Two families in Cork city will spend their fourth or more Christmas in emergency accommodation this month.

This was revealed as it emerged that Cork City Council has spent over €21 million on emergency accommodation in 2025, according to figures released by the council at its latest full meeting.

In response to a question from Sinn Féin Cllr Michelle Gould, it was revealed €21,020,740 has been spent by the city council so far this year, according to its most recently reported figures.

Last week, the Cork Independent reported that the council had spent over €30 million on homeless services, which includes emergency accommodation.

The figures released by the council this week only cover emergency accommodation.

Cllr Gould also requested and received figures on the number of families spending Christmas in emergency accommodation in 2025.

She was told 93 families will spend Christmas in emergency accommodation this year, including 67 for whom it is their first Christmas, and two who are spending their fourth or more.

There are also 496 single households spending Christmas in emergency accommodation, of whom 25 are reaching their fourth Christmas or more.

Cllr Gould described the figures were a “national scandal”.

She continued: “No one, especially a child – should spend four years in emergency accommodation. Something is drastically wrong when a government allows this to continue.

“If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were serious about tackling the homeless crisis, they would provide Cork City Council and other local authorities with the funding needed to repair boarded-up houses and return them to use immediately,” she said.

“The Government must urgently outline a clear plan to house families and individuals trapped in long-term emergency accommodation,” she concluded.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.