Homeless services failing rough sleepers- Costello

02 February 2018

Commenting on the death of a man in Dublin City last night, Labour representative for Dublin Central, Joe Costello said:

“The death last night of a man sleeping rough at Ryder’s Row not a stone’s throw away from the busy retail centres of Parnell Street and Henry Street is sad and tragic. We offer our condolences to his family and friends.

“While this is the first such death in 2018, with nearly 200 people sleeping rough in the Dublin region nightly, it is virtually inevitable that more rough sleepers will die before the end of this year.

“It is a sad reflection on the quality of emergency accommodation supplied by the local authorities that many homeless people prefer to sleep rough than endure the trials and tribulations of the accommodation on offer.

“The fact that the man had been in contact with the homeless services in Dublin up to 2011 begs the question as to whether he was living in the city since then, or whether he had abandoned the homeless services altogether.

“It is important to get answers to these questions now so as to determine why a man in his 50’s should be sleeping rough on a bitterly cold night, and why the number of rough sleepers has doubled in the last two years, when Dublin City Council states that there is adequate emergency accommodation available.”

 

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