The Simon Communities of Ireland have called for wider specialised healthcare for the homeless after the charity's annual review revealed that 55 people who used its services last year died prematurely.
Citing research showing that 90 per cent of those living rough have physical health complaints and almost half have mental health problems, the organisation said healthcare services for the homeless were "patchy" and in some places "non-existent".
Patrick Burke, Simon's chief executive, said medical services were generally out of reach for the homeless, as many did not have a medical card and could not afford treatment.
"The extent and range of these health problems requires a multi-disciplinary approach, which is outside the scope of a regular GP," he said. "This is why we are advocating for the establishment of specialist health teams for people who are homeless in key locations throughout the country."
Mr Burke said a model system was in place in Cork, where an initiative providing medical, psychiatric and addiction treatment services had been established by the Health Service Executive. But where homeless services were absent, "people who are homeless simply do not have access to any kind of healthcare", he added.
Mr Burke was speaking at the launch of Simon's annual review for 2006, which reported that 55 people who used its services last year died prematurely. Twenty-five people died in Cork, four in Dundalk, eight in Galway and 18 in Dublin.
"The average age of those who passed away was just 42. This compares with an average life expectancy of 78 years for Irish people," he said. "What these figures tell us is that homelessness kills and without timely and comprehensive responses it will continue to result in untimely and unnecessary deaths."
The group welcomed the Government's pledge to develop 9,000 social housing units next year, as set out in the Budget, but said the homeless were usually the last to be selected for such schemes. "There is now a unique opportunity to invest in social housing and specific move-on housing units for homeless people," Mr Burke said.
"Simon is of the view that, in light of falling construction costs and a slowdown in the industry, the Government and local authorities should take advantage of the environment to frontload housing targets by accelerating its building programme.
"Not only would this approach maintain jobs in construction, but it would be an important measure in meeting the target of ending homelessness by 2010."
Launching the report, Minister of State for Housing Batt O'Keeffe reiterated the commitment made in the partnership agreement, Towards 2016, to eliminate long-term occupation of emergency accommodation. The 2007 allocation of €52.2 million brought to €332 million the amount provided by his department for accommodation and related services since the introduction of the Government's homeless strategy in 2000, he added.
