A United Nations special rapporteur has said homelessness is a human rights violation amid calls for a constitutional right to housing in this country.

The Taoiseach has cautioned against further rent controls, saying they could increase the number of ‘black market’ landlords.

He may live in the nearest thing we have to a palace, yet, in his annual Christmas message from the grandeur of Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday, President Higgins exuded more empathy and personal connection with Ireland’s homeless than many of our senior politicians.

Housing support groups have claimed the rental sector is now “out of control” after latest figures showed record levels of homelessness ahead of Christmas, including 3,333 children.

The Government has accepted it cannot rely on the private rental market to solve the housing crisis, according to the CEO of the Simon Communities of Ireland.

Ensuring that we never experience a homelessness crisis such as the current one is a key priority for the Simon Communities, writes Niamh Randall.

Your lunchtime news bulletin.

Homeless children around the country are worried Santa will not be able to find them this Christmas.

Politicians accused of caring more about their Christmas break.

The Government must use the budget to ensure the delivery of social and affordable housing across all tenure types, writes Niamh Randall.

Children are regularly treated as “passive spectators” in the debate on adequate housing in Ireland, a conference on homeless children in Galway heard yesterday.

National and international experts have been invited to debate the unprecedented rise in homelessness and housing instability over the past decade.

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.

Build more social and affordable housing, the Simon Communities in Ireland has told the Government.

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

The Government is under increasing pressure to beef up compulsory purchase orders and introduce a vacant home tax to tackle the homelessness crisis.

The Government has come under renewed pressure to bring in radical measures to tackle the housing crisis after the number of homeless burst past the 8,000 mark in July.

A homeless man in his 20s has died while staying in emergency accommodation in Dublin.

Housing charity Threshold has said a mandatory rents register must be established to root out rogue landlords who flout rental cap regulations.

More than 90% of rental properties are beyond the reach of people dependent on State housing benefits.

A new report shows 91% of rental properties are beyond the reach of people dependent on state housing benefits.

Family homelessness has risen 200% since 2011 and 55% of homeless people are in the labour force. Key to this is the need for adequate incomes, local authority housing and an affordable, secure private rental market, writes Niamh Randall.

More than a quarter of all 6,906 homeless people recorded on night of Census 2016 were children.

If access to housing was enshrined in the Constitution, then homelessness would be a failure of the State, not of the individual, write Niamh Randall and Colette Kelleher

The majority of us believe the Government is not doing enough to solve the housing crisis, according to a new report from the Simon Community.

The Cobh local electoral area has been officially designated as a national rent pressure zone (RPZ) to tackle rising rents.

The government has defended itself as new figures confirm almost 200,000 houses remain empty around the country during a homelessness crisis.

Owners of the 198,358 vacant homes in the State must be incentivised to rent or lease them to alleviate the accommodation crisis, says Niamh Randall.

There has been a 26% increase in the number of people seeking help from the Simon Communities of Ireland in the last two years.

Almost 7,000 people will be spending Christmas Day in emergency accommodation.

With private rents now 10% higher across the country compared to a year ago, more measures are needed in addition to full rent certainty to stop people losing their homes, the Simon Communities has urged.

The Government has been urged to step up implementation of its action plan on housing and homelessness after the latest Daft.ie report showed spiralling rental costs have now outstripped levels last seen in the boom.

Homelessness charities have described as scandalous latest Census figures that show almost 200,000 houses are lying empty around the country while thousands of people are trapped in emergency homeless accommodation.

The Simon Communities of Ireland says census night will not be a “definitive” count of homelessness.

The housing crisis is a national emergency affecting every region and community across the country. The real question is what happens next? asks Niamh Randall

New figures from Focus Ireland show that 83 families became homeless in February.

Homeless support agencies have expressed alarm at figures which show the number of people now living in emergency accommodation at an all-time high at 5,715 people.

The Simon Communities are calling for there to be a specific Minister for Housing in the next government.