There is now a record number of 228 rough sleepers in Dublin city centre, according to the chief executive of the Simon Community.
Speaking prior to the launch of the organisation’s annual report, Sam McGuinness said there were 168 rough sleepers in Dublin City Centre on Tuesday morning along with a further 60 sleeping on the floor of the Merchant’s Quay night café.
Mr McGuinness told RTE's Morning Ireland that the official count of rough sleepers in Dublin city centre had increased from 102 in April.
He said that when the 168 rough sleepers were added to the 60 in the Merchant’s Quay night café, that made a record number of 228.
“That’s an extraordinary number. That’s not an extraordinary coincidence. These people genuinely don’t have a place to stay and all of the beds in rented accommodation - which have been increased - are all in use,” he said.
Recently, the Simon Community found some rough sleepers who did not have sleeping bags as well as growing numbers sleeping in Merrion Square and St Stephen’s Green.
“It’s impossible to count the number of people sleeping in the Phoenix Park,” said Mr McGuinness.
He called on Minister for Housing Simon Coveney to ensure that the rapid build plan "will be rapid".
“The occupancy rate in emergency accommodation is very high. The numbers in emergency accommodation have never been as high, in fact over the past two years they’ve increased from somewhere in the region of over 2,000 to now nearly over 5,000,” he said.
"At the same time, it's very clear that government ministers and Minister Coveney are doing something in Rebuilding Ireland, the difficulty here is the lead lag. Today we have the problem, tomorrow we have the problem, this winter we'll have the problem.
“We have had an increase of 30 per cent through our detox recovery programme. We’ve also had an increase in the numbers who are accessing our mental health resources, that’s 70 per cent up, besides that people accessing our emergency accommodation is up.”
‘Rapid build’
He said: "All round for us the numbers are up, and it actually just goes to show the critical focus on Rebuilding Ireland in terms of increasing the number of housing first beds, increasing the amount of emergency accommodation - all of those things are critical and they must happen sooner rather than later.
“The rapid build must be rapid this time. It must happen on time.”
When asked about the effect on people who cannot access post detox accommodation, he said that some go back to emergency accommodation, “some of them may fall by the way side, but the critical thing is we need more of a move on accommodation”.
The organisation is “putting in another 13 beds for recovery which will give more people an opportunity,” he said.
“Our beds in that area are going up to nearly 60 beds, there is a plan to double that amount and make a big difference. The move from detox to recovery and to after care is a serious problem.”
He said that the message pre-Budget is that only one in ten people in emergency accommodation has a chance of getting a home.
“We need to put our shoulder to it and make sure that anything that can happen earlier will happen, otherwise it will be 2018 before we can make a difference.”
Snapshot on service increases from 2015 Report:
- 10 per cent of people moved out of emergency accommodation into a home.
- 59 per cent of people in emergency accommodation have been homeless for more than two years.
- 32 per cent increase in the numbers counted on Early Morning Rough Sleeping counts in the last year (not including the 60 without a bed in the MQI Night Café) 168 Counted on Tuesday morning.
- 31 per cent increase in those accessing addiction treatment services.
- 46 per cent increase in housing capacity, through opening and acquiring 109 new properties in 2015.
- 59 per cent increase in those accessing emergency accommodation.