31 people have died within homeless services in Dublin this year.
That's an increase on 2019 which saw 34 deaths across the whole year, according to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive.
It says intensive liaison between the DRHE, HSE and Tusla has taken place as a result of the unprecedented spike in deaths that occurred in the week of July 19th, when seven homeless people died.
The report says that both the DRHE and the HSE are deeply saddened by what has occurred and will continue to work together to develop a deeper insight into these cases and identify any gaps in services. Two actions are currently underway:
· The special clinics of the Ana Liffey Drugs Project will be expanded over the coming weeks, with a particular emphasis on harm reduction.
· As is normal procedure, death in service reviews are being conducted by the relevant services.
The report says 871 families were in emergency accommodation at the end of June, which is the lowest number since April 2016.
The number of children resident in emergency accommodation at the end of June has reduced by 699 to 1,979 since January 2020. In July 2018 the figure was 2,894 and in January 2020 it was 2,678.
