76% of people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin are not using tents, while a third had an emergency accommodation booking but were not using it.
Dublin City Council's Official Winter Count of rough sleepers was carried out over the week of November 7th to 13th.
91 people were counted sleeping rough, a reduction of 3 people on the same period last year.
Statistics
Dublin City Council says: "The count was arranged by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) and carried out by the Dublin Simon Community Outreach Team and supported by the Peter McVerry Trust Housing First Intake Team. Additional Outreach workers were deployed to ensure intense coverage of city centre areas.
"Staff in all four Dublin local authorities and An Garda Síochána provided additional information about people who were rough sleeping, especially those in isolated areas.
"Of the 91 people met rough sleeping, 87 had previously been assessed by the DRHE for homeless services, and the remaining 4 persons were being actively engaged with by the Outreach team be assessed by homeless services.
"The main characteristics of the group known to the DRHE were:
The majority of the people confirmed as rough sleeping were male, Irish and aged between 26-45 years.
79% were linked with one of the four Dublin local authorities.
24% were using tents and 76% were not.
12 individuals (14%) were found rough sleeping in both the Winter 2022 and Spring 2022 counts. A number of these are being targeted for a Housing First response, which will provide them with permanent housing and visiting supports to help them sustain their home.
1 individual (1%) was recorded as rough sleeping and having an active tenancy compared to the April 2022 count where 9 individuals (13%) were in tenancy.
In the November 2022 count, 29 individuals (33%) had an Emergency Accommodation booking they did not access over the count week. A further 7 individuals (8%) accessed Emergency Accommodation during the November 2022 count week.
53 individuals (61%) had a booking for Emergency Accommodation at some stage in the three months prior the count, of which 29 individuals (33%) did not present (i.e. were no shows).
"94% of those found rough sleeping during the Winter 2022 count had booked homeless accommodation in the past, 61% at some time in the 3 months prior to the count, and 23% had a booking for emergency accommodation on at least one of the nights they were found to be sleeping rough.
"The number of people rough sleeping in the Dublin Region changes from night to night. While there is a core group who regularly sleep rough, that may or may not engage with services, there is a larger group that move between rough sleeping, accessing emergency accommodation, sleeping in insecure accommodation, and staying with family or friends.
"Others may engage in rough sleeping for a very brief transitional period. Conducting this count over a one-week period provides more information on the different experiences of people who engage in rough sleeping."
Safety
CEO of Dublin Simon Community Catherine Kenny said: "91 is still too many people sleeping on the streets. Nobody should have to sleep rough, especially not during these cold, wet and blustery nights. Sleeping on the streets is not safe.
"It makes people vulnerable to injury or attack and exposes them to illnesses associated with extreme weather conditions. It is also a profoundly sad and traumatising experience which can negatively impact a person for the rest of their life."
