8,500 PEOPLE WITHOUT A HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
Minister vows to help rough sleepers
There’s no reason why anyone who is homeless shouldn’t have a bed EOGHAN MURPHY YESTERDAY DUBLIN
NO-ONE should be forced to sleep rough this Christmas, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy claimed yesterday ahead of the opening of a new shelter.
The facility on Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Street is set to cater for 30 people but the Fine Gael TD said there is a “commitment” to bring in 200 new emergency beds.
The crisis is at its peak as we head into Christmas with the latest figures showing there are 8,500 people without a home, 3,500 of whom are kids.
Minister Murphy said: “There’s no reason why anyone shouldn’t have a bed who is homeless and sleeping rough on the streets this Christmas.
“We did a count of rough sleepers a few weeks ago that told us there was about 180 people on average per night sleeping rough in our city streets.
“But we made a commitment earlier in the year to bring in 200 new permanent emergency beds so nobody would be forced to sleep rough any night of the week.
“And that’s not just for Christmas, these are permanent beds.
“So this morning myself and the Taoiseach were at a new facility that’s going to open later this week. We’ll have about 30 beds for individuals and couples, some with mobility issues as well. And they’ll be able to be placed there for six months so they won’t be kind of coming in and out every day trying to get into the accommodation.
“It’s kind of supported temporary accommodation before we move them to permanent homes.”
The minister added the Government is working with organisations including the Peter Mcverry Trust, Simon and Focus Ireland. He told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny Show: “As a result of the new beds that have opened over the past couple of weeks we have seen the numbers of people sleeping rough each night begin to decline as well.”
While rough sleepers are a huge issue, latest figures show there are 99,555 people on social housing waiting lists.
In a bid to help tackle the problem it was recently announced height restrictions on residential buildings are set to be altered so that it will be easier to build high-rise developments in cities.
Minister Murphy, said: “Essentially this is about building more of the right types of homes, building them in the right places. “In city centres and urban centres where a lot of facilities and infrastructure already are.”