Tánaiste Simon Harris said 'a lot of people who are in emergency homeless accommodation, or certainly some people who are in emergency homeless accommodation, don’t have a housing right in Ireland'. Photograph: Alan BetsonDublin City Council has rejected a repeated claim by Tánaiste Simon Harris that a significant number of people presenting as homeless do not have a housing right in Ireland. Mr Harris said last month that “a lot of people who are in emergency homeless accommodation, or certainly some people who are in emergency homeless accommodation, don’t have a housing right in Ireland”. An emergency motion tabled by Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty, which was adopted by Dublin City Council in its monthly meeting on Monday, said the council rejects Mr Harris’s “baseless claim”. Mr Harris was defended at the council meeting by Mr Steenson.

Source: The Irish Times January 13, 2026 22:33 UTC