Homeless figures don't count all those without housing 

Our definition of homelessness leaves out many single adults who are sleeping in cars, couch-surfing or leaving prison or hospital without a home, writes Dermot Kavanagh of Cork Simon

The woman moving between the sofas of friends and family for the third month running does not appear in any official figure. File picture

Mark became homeless at 19 and ended up living in a broken-down car. He has epilepsy, and the lack of sleep meant he was constantly seizing. There were rats under the bonnet and mice in the roof space. 

He slept light, sitting up at every noise to see who was outside. Strangers bullied him, and one opened the door and tried to drag him out. In winter, he would wake to a sheet of ice on the inside of the windscreen, his blankets damp, sick more often than not. Two dogs kept him company. He thought, more than once, about ending it all.