It is critically important for both Ireland’s economy and its people that the housing crisis is solved, according to Social Justice Ireland.

With average earners unable to buy and with rents rising, 30,000 homes a year will have to be built, or else the social and financial consequences of homelessness will resonate for generations, says Colette Bennett.

Earlier this month, a husband and wife and their children walked from their emergency accommodation in Little Island on the outskirts of the city to the soup kitchen on Little Hanover Street.

Threshold has welcomed a €14,000 award to a Munster-based family of six after they were discriminated against on the grounds of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), but said more decisions might be required to force landlords to comply with the law.

A young couple struggling with homelessness have managed to turn their lives around, thanks to housing activists, writes Joyce Fegan