‘357 homeless people have passed away In Dublin over past five years’

Statistics released to Aontú under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that 357 homeless people have passed away in Dublin since 2018, with a total of seventy deaths recorded in the capital so far this year.

Speaking yesterday, party leader, Peadar Tóibín TD, said:

“The Minister for Housing should feel a deep sense of shame over these statistics which have been released to Aontú under Freedom of Information.

“He should be losing sleep over this.

“We talk about the housing crisis day in and day out in the Dáil.

“This is the harsh reality on paper – 357 homeless people have died over the past five years in Dublin alone.

“What does that fact say about our government and our society?

“When asked in the Dáil about the state of O’Connell street last week the Taoiseach indicated that it was an issue for the city council.

“The government cannot relegate all these issues to the council.

“Dublin City Council is, to my knowledge, the only local authority which actually records the death rate among people who are homeless.

“Aontú have raised these issues in the Dáil on many occasions over the past few years. It is utterly shameful that nothing has been done.

“Indeed on one occasion Minister O’Brien appeared to try to play down the statistics by suggesting that some of these deaths could have been as a result of car accidents, thus calling our interpretation of these statistics into question. These are dark statistics. We need to do better by vulnerable people in our country”

“The weather is only going to get worse as we head into winter and I am extremely concerned that this figures will rise sharply in the months to come.

“This is just in the capital. Unfortunately and shockingly the government don’t even record the number of homeless deaths that happen throughout the rest of the country and we in Aontú have been calling for the government to do that, if a government can’t analyse what’s happening it’s not going to be able to put in place the necessary supports to ensure that lives are saved.”