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A RECORD 168 people were sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin during the latest count carried out by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive.
It is the highest figure recorded since records began in 2007, when 104 people were sleeping rough, and represents a year-on-year increase of 29 people.
DRHE noted that this was a 20% increase, compared to 60% between 2012 and 2013.
However, Focus Ireland last night warned that the homeless crisis is deepening.
“The continuing rise of people sleeping rough is very worrying and unacceptable,” director of advocacy Mike Allen said.
This shocking increase shows that homeless is not just about the terrible crisis of families being forced to live in hotel rooms. It is also about single people losing their accommodation and some having to sleep rough on the streets.
Allen also criticised the Government for not doing enough to tackle rising rents.
Minister for Local Government Alan Kelly said it is “unacceptable” that anyone should be sleeping rough.
“While rough sleeping is acute in Dublin, anecdotal evidence suggests that there may be problems in other parts of the country,” he said.
“I am anxious to ensure that funding is channelled appropriately to all regions so as to provide the necessary services and to deliver more permanent responses in a strategic way.”
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These poor poor people, their dignity even taken…yet minesterial transport costing €14million in the last 3 years. Something is terribly wrong in this country. Terribly, terribly wrong. Makes me feel very sad this morning.
Agreed. I honestly dont know how any of these ministers can go home at night and can look at themselves in the mirror. If people were financially ruined all over the country, relationships ruined, families ruined, people up to their neck in debt, and it was partially my fault yet i still spent €14,000,000 per year…on transport alone…i honestly think that I would hang myself. I couldn’t live with the shame, nor could I look my kids in the face and think that I’ve tried to improve their world. Ff/FG/LAB have ruined this country. The samurai would have performed harakiri in their shoes long ago – yet our lads have no sense of shame, no sense of accountability, and the worst part is – they don’t even seem to know that there’s anything wrong!
Skint Flint: this is however not really the case, Irish people are still quite rich and there is much more people than have money than have not. Look at new car sales on the rise, look at every property selling within hours, look at full cinemas and bars. Look at full shopping centres by mid November. This is not being broken. Of course there are number of people hit by job loss etc. but majority in Ireland still lives very comfortable lives.
Perhaps you’re right. I can only speak from experiences I’ve had and others around me have had. Personally, i work purely to survive, i’m not in the bars or the restaurants, can only dream of a new car, yes sure I (well, the bank) own a house but my relationship has been ruined. I attribute all of that to the financial distress I have suffered at the hands of FF/FG/LAB.
Oh, but I did go to the cinema 2 weeks ago..so i got that going for me, which is nice.
Skin Flint: if there were more people like you this government would be long time lynched perhaps. But because many people are doing well – they don’t give flying… and there is business as usual. Even the water protest – most people protest not because they cannot afford it.
@unfort – possibly all true. From working in Dublin City Centre however for a number of years , it has only been in recent times that I have noticed the sheer amount of homeless people. There are very few streets you can walk down now and not see at least one homeless person. I often see people injecting now in broad daylight. I’m not sure how it has come to this, whether its all due to the government or what and to be honest I’m not fully sure how we fix it but its extremely sad to see.
And every single night for the last three months there have been 700+ children in emergency accommodation. This is absolutely disgraceful and completely unacceptable. This is the face of our governments economic policy. They have deliberately forced up the price of housing by limiting supply to ensure the banks passed the stress tests. So our EU masters can pat us on the head and tell us how good we are while selling us the lie that austerity works and we’ve turned the corner. Sky high rents continue to force people onto the streets for the single and only reason that they are poor. Its an abomination.
There’s no need for children to be homeless at all. There are plenty of childless couples willing to adopt or foster them until their parents get their lives together.
Jesus Neal, I’ve read stupid comments on here plenty of times, but that is the lowest of them all. You suggest that through no fault of their own families should be split up and children put into care. That solution was tried before and look how that turned out. Do us all a favour and put yourself into care until you get your priorities straight.
surely to god we could give shelter to 160 people! even Joe Duffy could accomplish that in a show. Shameful
Emer
They don’t want shelter. Apparently most of these rough sleepers have alcohol and drug dependencies and constantly refuse accommadation .
You aren’t taking into consideration the fact that many of them would use the shelter for doing hard drugs, prostitution, and it would soon turn into an Irish favela.
SOME don’t want housing, they all want a bed at night though. Hostels are turning record numbers away because the beds fill up very quickly. There are a lot of people who have only become homeless in recent years. If you are a woman with children, you will be provided with emergency accommodation, men seem to be expected to fend for themselves. But no matter which way you look at it, there’s something wrong when we can’t provide a safe bed at night to our homeless.
Is there a link or reference to that assertion Hugh???
More homelessness and poverty…
= exactly the result of more Austerity like the private Water Tax…
…dressed up in the propaganda of Neo Liberal jackboot economics lies…. peddled by the unelected Troika and their local ‘Landlords’ Agents’ in Government.
ENOUGH is ENOUGH…
Citizens, demand change now!
So Alan Kelly says it’s “unacceptable”? But that can’t be true, it must be entirely acceptable. If not this excuse for a government would have done something about it.
Is that enough CLARITY and CERTAINTY for this totally inept government. €100 being spent on every house in the country totalling over 160 million euro and yet cannot invest in solving a homelessness issue. It’s all about choices Mein Fuhrer Kenny and you’ve failed in every single one.
Plenty of NAMA properties (which we own) to solve this problem in a heartbeat.
Govt should be helping ALL people, including those in the worst of situations.
For some reason it seems to be a note of pride among western capitalist countries to deliberately ignore the homeless.
recently, the OPW were commissioned to survey Gov buildings as possible homeless shelters. They found 2. I would argue that if the same survey were carried out by homeless people a lot more Gov buildings would have been identified as suitable shelters.
That sickens me to HELL with this government and anyone that supports them are worse..
800 million spent on water meters from Billionaire Denis o’Brien. How much paid to set up IW. This is a crime. It is criminal negligence on behalf of the government. They betray the people with every action and word and allow our people and our country to be raped by the TRoika . Why ?
Heard louth co co voted to put the extra payment the chairs of the council get into the homeless budget
Is this what the founders of our state fought for ? I don’t think so, these so called leaders should be ashamed of themselves instead of gloating in the miss achievements, they should start addressing the real issues our people have to face on a daily basis, just to get buy
The government and the troika are not solely to blame for this situation, as much as we’d like to think they are…Some people, as much as it’s hard to believe, choose to be.
That said, for those who don’t, well the government should be doing a little more…
Firstly, tell the troika to fu**off
Secondly, park the government jet and get one of the many deals Ryanair are offering
Thirdly, ministerial cars, with Gardaí drivers…take a taxi, €14 million in three years, fu**in’ parasites!
And only reasonable vouched expenses should be paid out.
I know it’ll be a bit of a hardship to endure, but endure you must…And if you start now, it’ll help you in your endeavour to survive on the dole in 15 months…Because you’ll definitely be out of a job!
Government should probably try and address the Heroin problem in conjunction with the homeless problem.
The harsh reality of sleeping in doorways/wheelie bins means it’s too cold to actually sleep, homeless people can develop drink/drug habits simply as a coping mechanism to this. Come Dec/Jan and the snows it’s the homeless that can afford to drink alcohol that will survive. Some peoples otherwise questionable behavior can make sense when viewed from their perspective. Walk a mile in their shoes etc.
This Government must the the worst since the foundation of the state. .. and I am afraid to say that Enda Kenny has to the worst Prime Minister also… I actually used to like him .. but I now hate the sight of him.. ..
@Tim Kearney:
Hear, hear, Tim. You took the words out of my mouth.
I hope this so called government falls soon. Belle Enda is beginning to look very rattled!
We will look back on this in shame. Thousand of empty properties around the country and people sleeping on the streets like dogs in 5degree weather. Heartbreaking.
600m euro on foreign aid last year. 1.5bn euro and counting for the asylum racket. Go figure-homeless and Irish? You haven’t a chance.
It’s the mild weather
And this while our government piss away millions on poxy water meters.
Why don’t they move out of Dublin if they can’t get a house there knocking houses down in Longford
Its so sad to see these people sleeping in the streets everywhere is so dangerous that poor girl sounds very young .
I thought I was done being shocked at the idiocy of journal comments but I was wrong. Neal you truly are an ignorant a-hole.
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