Peter McVerry Trust is deeply saddened by the death of two men sleeping rough in Dublin in the past couple of days.

Unfortunately, there have been an unprecedented number of deaths involving people sleeping rough since late August. The latest two deaths in Dublin bring to seven the number of people sleeping rough that have died in the past 12 weeks.

Peter McVerry Trust is calling on the Government to commit to housing every person currently sleeping rough in Dublin by the end of 2018.

At present we have just over 180 people sleeping rough in Dublin, and while that is the highest number on record, surely the Government can commit to ring-fencing 180 social housing units for our most vulnerable citizens.

Speaking on Morning Ireland on Wednesday 29 November, Peter McVerry Trust CEO Pat Doyle spoke about the tragedy of people dying on the streets and the dangers of sleeping rough during the winter.

“Our heart goes out to them. It’s freezing out there, it’s not safe to be a rough sleeper,” he said. 

Mr Doyle added that there can be issues in getting those who are sleeping rough to accept a bed in emergency accommodation, and that Housing First is the only way to tackle homelessness.  

“That is why we push the Housing First model as people will sooner walk into an apartment than a hostel,” he said.