Keeping homeless figures down will be 'very difficult', says housing minister

As the number of homeless people continues to rise each month, minister for housing James Browne denied that a move to limit access to social housing to non-habitual residents is an attempt to improve optics. Picture: Stephen Collins/Photos

Avoiding crossing the threshold of 5,000 children living in emergency accommodation will be "very difficult", the housing minister has admitted.

The latest figures show that 4,844 children were in emergency accommodation in May — the highest number ever recorded in Ireland.