Rising homelessness is the result of the wrong political decisions, according to the President of Focus Ireland Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy.
The founder of the homeless charity has said that the crisis will continue to deepen this winter without immediate Government action.
Last year, the charity helped 1,288 households to avoid homelessness or leave homelessness, according to its latest annual report.
Sr Stan has said that "lack of action in Budget 2023" is an example of "poor political decisions", which have resulted in more landlords selling up and leaving the market.
She has called for a temporary eviction ban to be put in place, while an expert group can be established to determine measures that will encourage landlords to stay in the market for a fixed period of time.
Otherwise, she says, more people will become homeless.
"Over 3,200 children who are homeless do not have the luxury of time," she said.
"Their childhoods are being stolen as homelessness is causing young people to lose out on the safety and security of a permanent home. This situation is unacceptable and must end.
"Much greater political leadership and commitment is urgently required to do this if we are to overcome the challenges our society faces in ending homelessness."
When asked about a ban of evictions, ahead of a Cabinet meeting this morning, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he was has no "idealogical objection" to the policy.
"One thing we have to bear in mind is that we don't want to do anything that might make the problem better for a few months and then make it worse forever, that’s the basic principal in policy terms that you shouldn’t do any harm," he said.
"I don’t have any ideological objection to evictions bans.
"The last one was brought in when I was Taoiseach during the pandemic …that was a very different scenario at that stage, people couldn’t meet other people or travel around.
"It was done on the basis it was a one off.
"Obviously if any proposal is made by the minister it will be given consideration but that hasn't happened to date."
Focus Ireland's 2021 annual report shows that despite the fall in homelessness to a five-year low in May 2021, its teams working with families, young people and single adults continued to see thousands of people seeking support across the country.
Over 12,300 people engaged with its services last year, including over 1,500 families and over 3,300 children.
The report features a number of people who were helped by Focus Ireland last year including 24-year-old Lisa Brennan who is a wheelchair user.
From the age of four until she was 18, Ms Brennan was in care in a variety of foster placements and residential homes.
When she turned 18, she left care and started renting in the private rental market, however, the landlord did not renew her lease and she ended up using homeless services.
"Homelessness is extremely difficult for all young people, but as a wheelchair user, it was so tough," she says.
Ms Brennan spent five months in a homeless hostel, and eventually got a shared semi-independent unit, where she stayed for over two years.
She finally got her own flat through the Focus Housing Association but it was on the third floor.
Last year, she got a a transfer to an accessible ground floor apartment in a complex that is wheelchair friendly.
At this point, she felt she could move on with her life and was supported by Focus Ireland to start looking for a job and now works in an afterschool service.
"I now have my own beautiful home and a job I enjoy," she said.
"And while I have had some serious challenges in my past, my future is full of possibilities."
'Incentivise landlords'
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Chief Executive with Focus Ireland Pat Dennigan said the number of people classed as homeless reached a new high in August with more than 10,000 people living in emergency accommodation.
He said the key issue is the "real difficulty in moving people on from emergency accommodation back into a home of their own."
"The vast majority of people that come to our services come from the private rented market," he said.
"I think we need to encourage and incentivise landlords to stay in that market and make an ongoing commitment to their tenants to keep those people in a home."
He added that he thinks "much more sense of urgency is needed and a much more sense of priority".
He said that the delivery of homes is likely to fall short of targets this year.
Factors such as the pandemic, shortage of construction workers and the rise in building costs are behind the missed targets, he said.
