20 PEOPLE ACCESSING homelessness services died between January and April of 2023, new figures show.

The statistics released to Peadar Tóibín TD under the Freedom of Information Act show that one of the deceased was a teenager under 18 years old.

The Aontú leader described this as “deeply concerning”.

As of the end of February 2023, there were 8,588 individuals accessing homeless services in Dublin. This figure includes 2,576 children. 

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) covers the areas of South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

In all of 2022, 45 people accessing homelessness services died.

This figure was 68 in 2021, and 46 in 2020.

There were other deaths not included in the figures, as the individuals were not known to the DRHE.

Age breakdown

Four of the deceased in 2023 were between the ages of 20 and 29 and three were in their thirties.

Of the 20 people who died, 18 were male.

One woman was in her 40s and another was in her 50s.

Additionally, four of the deceased were aged between 60 and 69.

Aontú leader Tóibín described the statistics as “harrowing and distressing”.

“Behind each one of these statistics is an individual and their family and friends,” he said.

“It is a scandal that people are dying homeless in Ireland in 2023 at this rate and that the government has taken so long to look into it.” 

“Social determinants”

In May, the Department of Health released a report on the premature deaths of homeless people in Ireland.

It found that while the majority of those who died had a history of drug and alcohol use, the deaths were primarily the result of the “social determinants” of health, such as inadequate accommodation, poverty, lack of employment, child and adult trauma, and imprisonment.

At the time, Minister Hildegarde Naughton said the report made for “very difficult reading”.

Recommendations included increasing provision of naloxone for overdoses, better mental healthcare that is sex-specific, and better harm-reduction strategies for people who use drugs.