Numbers sleeping rough highest since records began

The number of people sleeping rough in Dublin is the highest since official counting began in 2007, and has almost trebled in five years.

Latest figures from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) show some 168 people were found sleeping on the city’s streets on the night of November 11th when the official 2014 ‘winter rough sleeper count’ was conducted.

This is a 20 per cent increase on the 139 people found sleeping on the streets in the 2013 winter count, and 180 per cent increase since November 2009.

The figures have risen steadily since 2009, to 70 in 2010, 87 in 2011 and 87 in winter 2012 (when one area was not counted).

The figures for winter 2007 and 2008 were 104 and 101 respectively.

Responding to the record numbers, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly said they reflected the "serious challenge facing the Government, the voluntary sector and other agencies in tackling the homelessness problem".

He said it was “not acceptable that people should sleep on the streets of our cities and towns”.

Of the 168 people confirmed sleeping rough in this count, 130 were male, 16 were female and 22 were unknown. Fifty-nine were Irish, 39 were not from Ireland and 70 were unknown.

The largest proportion whose age could be confirmed – 40 in total – were aged between 31 and 40 years of age; 36 were aged between 18 and 30; 17 were aged 41 to 50; 10 were between the ages of 51 and 60; three were over 61 years; and 62 people were unknown.

Some 70 per cent of those who were sleeping out were regular users of emergency accommodation.

A spokeswoman for the DRHE, which co-ordinates the annual count, said these counts could tell only “part of the story”.

“The street count is a way of confirming the minimum number of people sleeping rough on the night in question . . . and assists us in measuring the effectiveness of the regional strategy, in addition to planning for services”.

On the night of the count there were also 1,526 unique adult individuals in emergency beds in Dublin. This compares with 1,491 in emergency beds on the night of 30th September and 1,414 on 30th June.

In anticipation of the record numbers now sleeping rough, the DRHE had already been arranging to put in place an addition 152 emergency beds in the city by the end of the year.

The annual ‘cold weather initiative’ has also been underway since the start of the month, whereby additional beds are put in place for the duration, until the end of March as a “emergency humanitarian response to the needs of people who may be sleeping rough during cold weather”.

A new ‘housing first’ service has also been in place since the start of October, which aims to move rough sleepers directly into supported housing, bypassing the emergency hostel system, as a more sustainable means of ending rough sleeping for individuals.