More rough sleepers will die in Dublin if extra emergency beds are not provided shortly, a homeless support organisation has warned.
Inner City Helping Homeless said it encountered 169 people sleeping rough during overnight food and supply rounds in the capital, the highest number it has recorded since the accommodation crisis began.
The group, which has in the past been joined on supply runs by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said it was now handing out more than 4,000 sleeping bags every month, with some people unable to avail of this basic facility as they are not officially registered as being homeless.
Anthony Flynn, the group's director, said he was anxious to see proper beds provided within as short a timeframe as possible to cope with increasing demand for services as the colder winter nights close in.
"Two months ago Simon Coveney promised that there would be an additional 200 beds put into the system, which hasn't happened," he said. "We've seen deaths on the street, we saw deaths last year, we saw deaths the year before. And throughout the year there have been deaths of homeless people on the streets.
“The Minister has been given forewarning on the cold weather initiative, it’s been explained that the fact of the matter is: people will die this year on the streets. He needs to implement those beds as soon as possible.”
Extra beds
In response, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive said local authorities were at an advanced stage of bringing additional capacity on stream with more than 200 extra beds due to become available for the November to January period.
“It is clear that increased rates of reported rough sleeping are related to the capacity of available emergency accommodation provided in the Dublin region. The recent increased demand for access to all forms of emergency accommodation in Dublin is not yet abating,” the executive said.
"Dublin City Council is advanced in work to expand emergency accommodation provision and will be bringing an additional 210 bed spaces into use as soon as possible as part of its winter strategy to prevent rough sleeping."
Addressing concerns about the continued operation of 120 beds at the Bru Aimsir homeless hostel in Thomas Street, which came as part of the last cold weather initiative, the executive said the facility would remain open until next summer at least.
It confirmed that more than 5,000 people are now dependent on emergency accommodation in the Dublin region, including some 2,000 children, with 140 people reliant on support from the Housing First rough sleeper service.