Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. We need something more and specific on this particular problem. We have had some of the most appalling deaths. We have had rough sleepers beaten to death on the streets, allegedly for their mobile phones. We have had people taking their own lives in emergency accommodation or people dying through overdoses because of an inability to manage their addictions.

What connects all of these deaths - the Minister is right that each is an individual tragedy - is that the young people in question have an added vulnerability. The fact that they are rough sleeping or in emergency accommodation puts them at greater risk. This needs a focused response by the Government, separate from but within the overall response that the Minister outlined. We need to see an accelerated withdrawal from the use of congregated and dormitory style accommodation. That is a commitment in the programme for Government and I would like to hear more about that. We need a greater focus on the small number of individuals whose homelessness, addiction and mental health concerns overlap to make them most distanced from emergency accommodation. Crucially, we need to look back at these particular deaths. In Britain, they use a measure known as adult safety reviews. It is a good mechanism for learning the lessons from these unnecessary and tragic deaths.

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