Gardaí and housing authorities have yet to identify the man found dead while sleeping rough in Dublin city centre in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Gardaí from Pearse Street station were alerted to the discovery of the man’s body on St Andrew’s Street early on Tuesday morning by a homeless organisation. It is understood there was no form of identification on the body.
Garda headquarters said they were still working to identify the man and investigations were ongoing.
The man’s death comes amid an ongoing cold weather advisory notice issued by Met Éireann, with sub zero temperatures forecast overnight on Wednesday.
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A Department of Housing spokesperson said the discovery of the man’s body was a “tragedy” and extended sympathies to the man’s family. The Department of Justice declined to comment on if the man who died was an international protection applicant or an Ukrainian refugee.
His death is understood to be the first official recorded death of a rough sleeper this year.
It comes as homeless organisations told the Government they had “profound concerns” at a potential move to tighten access to emergency accommodation, warning it would lead to an increase in rough sleeping and heightened risk of “ill health and death”.
[ Homeless man died metres away from one of Dublin’s main tourist attractionsOpens in new window ]
The Department of Housing last year sent stakeholders proposed amendments to the Housing Act 1988, including one which would require someone to demonstrate “habitual residency” in the State before accessing emergency accommodation.
In a written response to the department seen by The Irish Times, Focus Ireland warned this would mean local authorities would in effect be prevented from providing emergency shelter to those they deemed not to have a right to social housing, requiring someone to prove a pathway out of homelessness before accessing emergency accommodation – which it called “perverse and an abandonment of basic humanitarian values”.
In the proposals, the department said the effect of this would mean “some cohorts will no longer have an entitlement to homeless emergency support from housing authorities”, outlining that these people would likely be in the country unlawfully or have just arrived from other EU countries or do not meet the definition of a worker in EU law.
It argued that many of those in emergency accommodation do not have a “housing pathway” including migrants without legal status from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and those from within the EEA who don’t meet eligibility criteria for social housing and “as such can remain in emergency accommodation for some time”.
While the department said it was examining a system that would be put in place “to ensure no person is left without shelter”, the NGOs said this would needlessly create a parallel system to existing structures.
In a separate written response, the Simon Communities of Ireland said it had “very significant concerns” regarding the proposal, arguing officials would have to make on-the-spot decisions on complex issues of eligibility as people presented to emergency services. It said officials “are unlikely to be able to make fair and legally accurate decisions” which could cause “further trauma and harm to be done”.
Focus Ireland called the proposals, which were first reported by the Dublin Inquirer magazine, “inhumane, expensive and unworkable”.
A spokesman for the Department of Housing said it was considering a review of legislation to ensure it “reflects the current situation of homelessness”.
“No policy changes have been introduced. Should any changes be proposed, they will take account of the views of stakeholders including NGO partners and will be brought to Cabinet and before the Oireachtas in line with the normal legislative process.”
He said “exit pathways” from emergency accommodation were a key priority for the department. “Where a person has no legal entitlement to reside in the State, or does not qualify for social housing, options to support them to exit emergency accommodation are extremely limited.”
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