No child should have to grow up homeless in unsuitable emergency accommodation.

It’s time to put children’s rights at the heart of housing reform. Every child deserves a home. 

This #WorldHomelessDay, we’re calling for urgent action to protect children living in unsuitable emergency accommodation. Right now, more than 16,000 people in Ireland are in emergency accommodation and 5,145 are children.

Too many families are confined to single hotel rooms for months or even years, without space to cook, play, study or simply enjoy their childhood.  

Recent reports by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Mercy Law Resource Centre and the Ombudsman for Children have all highlighted the devastating impact on families living in emergency accommodation and family hubs — from disrupted education to lasting harm on children’s health, wellbeing and development. 

The ongoing review of the Housing Act 1988 is a crucial chance to put children’s rights at the centre of housing law. 

Read our letter to the Minister for Housing below: