The government must build social housing and do more to protect tenants, campaigners have said

The government’s response to the housing crisis has been described as shameful after another 1,220 people became homeless in the first two months of the year.

At the end of February 9,807 people were in emergency accommodation, an increase of 700 within a month, according to the Department of Housing. It was the largest rise on record.

Included in February’s figure were 488 children, bringing the number of children without a home to 3,755. The Barnados charity described the increase as horrifying. A total of 1,739 families are in hotels, B&Bs, homeless shelters and hubs across Ireland. More than 220 families became homeless last month.

Eoghan Murphy, the housing minister, said yesterday that tackling homelessness was a priority for the government. “However,” he added, “this