1,000 children under eight homeless at Christmas

Around 1,000 children under the age of eight are homeless in Ireland, according to Focus Ireland.

This equates to three out of five of homeless children who will be spending Christmas in emergency accommodation.

A further 20% are aged between nine and 12.

The vast majority of these are located in the Dublin region.

A total of 1,500 children were in emergency accommodation last month - a 98% increase on last year's figures.

Focus Ireland - which is the lead statutory agency working with homeless families in Dublin - will publish the full findings of its research next month.

UPDATE (8.55am): Environment Minister Alan Kelly has said that the situation is unacceptable , and that the long awaited modular housing will be in place next month to help manage the supply of homes for people.

“We are the only country in Europe who will actually guarantee that accommodation is available for homeless people,” he said.

“We’ve thousands of people who are in hotels, and that is unfortunate, and it is unfortunate in relation to children, and I accept all of that.

“I’ve spent more time dealing with this issue that virtually all other issues put together.”