Within 2km of my house there are more than 100 vacant houses.

Just 5.5% of rental housing stock across the country is within Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits.

The woman was found, in a freezing and very distressed state, outside the GPO on O’Connell Street shortly after 9pm by a homeless volunteer who runs a soup kitchen for the homeless every Thursday night.

A host of Irish singers gathered in Dublin this evening for the traditional Christmas Eve busk.

Kepak will deliver beef, lamb, pork and chicken products to Simon Community locations across Dublin, Cork and Limerick once a week for 12 months, enough for more than 30,000 meals.

Joe McKeever is somebody who will benefit from a mobile data-sharing initiative from An Post to keep Ireland's homeless connected.

Organisers of support meetings in which people who have recovered from addictions help others do the same could graduate to a position where professional trainers are no longer needed.

A man who said he believes he has saved lives by talking to people who are suicidal has received an eight-month jail sentence for drugs offences.

The father of a man who is presumed to have been murdered in Cork’s 'House of Horrors' in 1994 has issued an appeal for information that will lead to the recovery of his son's remains.

A young Cork woman who has been convicted of shoplifting more than 100 times was back before the court for sentencing on another spree of thefts.

Eve Kelliher looks at what’s happening in the worlds of art and interiors.

AS a boy Ross Byrne was rarely seen without a rugby ball in his hand. Being motivated to play was never an issue for the Dubliner since he first took up the sport at the age of five or six, a passion that was cultivated in the rugby-playing schools he attended.

Your lunchtime headlines.

Over 3,000 avoided emergency accommodation thanks to charity

A new €1.2bn land agency using State-owned sites for house construction will help end the boom-and-bust cycle in housing, the Government has pledged.

Here are some of the headlines this morning...

Almost two thirds of clients who took part in a pilot study run by Dublin Simon said they had made at least one previous suicide attempt.

Opposition parties and charities have labelled mooted Government plans to remove non-EU nationals from homelessness figures as a “disgusting” PR exercise.

The Government has the capacity to build 50,000 social houses in the next two years but this would not be the solution to the homeless crisis, the housing minister claims.

Consumer advice with Gráinne McGuinness

People have donated nearly €1m worth of water refunds to homeless charities.

Dr Margot Bolster, the Assistant State Pathologist, gave evidence that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia, associated positional asphyxia and hypoxia or lack of oxygen due to being trapped inside the chute.

Politicians accused of caring more about their Christmas break.

The Refund Project has reached almost €300,000 in donations after 1,600 households pledged some or all of the returned water charges.

The public is being asked to redirect their Irish Water refund towards the homeless crisis.

Cork’s Simon Community says there is a growing need for increased services for homeless people in the city.

Three of the country’s charities are launching a major appeal asking for householders to donate some or all of their Irish Water refunds to help those who are homeless.

Latest: Two men who were sleeping rough are reported to have died last night.

The conversion of the hall into a hostel was ruled to be in material contravention of the area's local development plan.

The number of homeless children has topped 3,000 for the first time as the number of families living in emergency accommodation continues to rise.

The Simon Communities in Ireland have launched a campaign demanding the Government build more social and affordable housing.