Dublin city sees 56% increase in rough sleepers
142 people is the average number of rough sleepers in Dublin City this winter, up 51 people compared to this time last year.
This is a 56% increase in homelessness in the space of 12 months.
As well as this, there were another 77 people sleeping in the Homeless Night Cafe meaning a total of 219 people were without a bed of their own on November 22 when the official count took place.
Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust, said: “These figures are not unexpected but nevertheless they are deeply disappointing and very frustrating.”
Mr Doyle called on the Government and Local Authorities to move faster to tackle the high levels of empty private homes, particularly in urban areas. He said: “Peter McVerry Trust’s view is that the only effective way that we can begin to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping is to ensure we have enough appropriate housing options. To that end we need to see stronger and quicker interventions to make housing available.”
The organisation has announced plans to cope with the homelessness increase with 230 emergency places which will be made available between now and 9 December.
