A record number of 13,841 people were accessing emergency homeless accommodation by the end of February, according to the latest figures.
The figure includes 4,170 children – also the highest number ever recorded.
The record number of children are spread across 1,994 families.
The new data prompted homelessness charities to urge the Government to make social housing a priority, while Sinn Féin called for an urgent general election.
Two-thirds of those were classified as “single adults”.
Almost 6,000 men and more than 3,700 women accessed emergency accommodation during that period.
The majority (72 percent) of the adult service users were in Dublin.
The South East accounts for 3 percent of the total number - with 295 people without a home in the region.
Waterford is the worst affected, with 97 homeless people in the county.
It's followed by Wexford with 72, Kilkenny with 44, Tipperary with 42, and Carlow with 40.
The latest figures also show an increase of 2,099 people (18 per cent) in emergency accommodation in the 12 months since February 2023, including a 24 per cent increase in children.
Sinn Fein’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said other figures released on Thursday show that the Government missed its targets for new-build social housing in 2023.
He said: “Homelessness is rising because the Government’s social and affordable housing targets are too low and are being missed every single year.
“This Government is not capable of solving this crisis. The longer they are in Government the worse the housing crisis is going to get.”
He added: “We urgently need a general election, a change of Government and crucially a change of housing plan to deliver the volume of social and affordable homes that are needed to tackle this escalating crisis.”
Focus Ireland described the figures as “distressing” and called on the Government to make tackling homelessness a “political priority”.
The charity said there was an urgent need for more decisive action to reverse the trend of rising monthly homelessness figures since the end of the pandemic.
Focus Ireland Chief Executive Pat Dennigan said: “There are solutions in the short, medium, and long term to this crisis.
“We have repeatedly called for a fairer allocation of social homes for homeless households.
Focus Ireland said it is writing to incoming Taoiseach Simon Harris next week to ask him to set clear goals to help end the “human crisis of homelessness.”
Wayne Stanley, Executive Director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: "The answer to this crisis lies in the construction of more social and affordable housing and more supports to those at risk of homelessness.
“While a commitment to greater ambition and a recognition of the scale of the crisis is welcome, the Government and the Taoiseach will be judged on results."
Reporting by Cillian Sherlock, PA
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