THE DEPARTMENT OF Housing has confirmed that a man whose body was found this morning by gardaí on St Andrew’s Street in Dublin 2 was sleeping rough.
It extended sympathies to the man’s family and says it will now focus on establishing the circumstances surrounding the death.
“This is a tragedy and we extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the individual concerned,” a spokesperson for the Department said.
“In September the Department asked all Regional Leads to ensure that cold weather arrangements are in place throughout the country.
“Cold Weather Initiatives operate across all local authorities to provide additional emergency beds for rough sleepers where needed and ensure that additional temporary beds can be brought into use across a range of existing services and facilities, for singles and couples as needed during periods of cold weather.”
The Department said local authorities have provided around 500 extra emergency accommodation beds as part of the initiative.
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DHRE) confirmed to the Department this week that there are sufficient beds available for those who require them.
The Department also said that it “contacted all Regional Leads this week to advise of the weather warning issued by Met Éireann”.
The public are encouraged to report rough sleeping and to download the DRHE’s Rough Sleeper app.
Padraig Drummond, the CEO of the Streetlink Homeless Support organisation stressed earlier the need for additional supports to be made available to rough sleepers during this current cold snap.
Speaking of the man who passed away, Drummond added, “may they rest in eternal peace”.
Drummond told The Journal that his group of ten volunteers have been doing patrols in areas where rough sleepers have been congregating to provide supports and check on people’s welfare during the cold weather.
“The issue here is the need for people from services to be out checking on people more frequently in the later hours in this weather. There are emergency accommodation beds on offer for people, but the majority of people we are helping have extreme addiction issues, and are using opiates.
“They are at risk of using and nodding out – they potentially would not feel hypothermia setting in. That’s why it’s important to have people on the ground to identify those at risk,” Drummond said.
Dublin city council has offered its sympathies to the family and friends of the person who “tragically passed away this morning.”
The DHRE has been in touch with gardaí and was awaiting more details on the person’s identity, before it can confirm the circumstances of his death.
The service has a cold weather strategy in place for the winter months, which involves 40 extra emergency accommodation beds being made available.
It also provides enhanced engagement with long-term entrenched rough sleepers who are at risk during the cold weather.
Its Street Outreach service provides support from 7am-1am Monday to Friday and 9am to 1am on the weekend.
In its strategy document, the DRHE says that it works alongside “the Dublin Simon Outreach Team, Housing First, the HSE and An Garda Siochana… with the goal of improving outcomes for people who may be sleeping rough”.
The DRHE also has an extreme weather emergency protocol. Its implementation is determined by whether or not Met Éireann has issued a Yellow, Orange or Red weather warning.
This protocol sees contingency plans activated during a range of weather events including wind, rain, snow, and low temperatures.
When this protocol is implemented, the DRHE deploys a range of measures including increasing emergency accommodation capacity, increasing support services staffing and hours of operation for its housing first intake team, and adding shelters in centers specifically targeted at people sleeping rough.
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