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Dáil
‹ Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation

Homeless deaths data

Summary

Deputy Gould highlighted a homeless man’s death in Cork and the lack of a database on deaths among homeless-service users, and the Tánaiste agreed better data would be useful.

Tragically, another man who was sleeping rough has passed away on the streets of Cork. I send my sincere condolences to his family and friends on his passing. Shockingly, we have no way of knowing the number of people engaging with homeless services who passed away either in Cork or nationally because there is no database. The Minister has confirmed this to me. Without the full figures and without knowing the circumstances of these people, we are unable to put in the supports necessary to prevent people from dying on the streets. We need more shelters with wrap-around services to protect them. Will the Tánaiste ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to put in place a regional executive to collate these figures so that we can protect homeless people and try to prevent this from happening?

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Leo Varadkar The Tánaiste Fine Gael

I am also very sorry to hear about that man's passing. I know the Minister is already aware of the issue. Having more accurate and up-to-date data on people who are in touch with homeless services would be very useful. As the Deputy knows, people who are homeless, just as people who are not, die for all sorts of different reasons. Having more information on that and the precise cause of death would be useful to everyone.

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