Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will certainly raise the issue at Cabinet. It is discussed in Cabinet meetings in the ordinary course of events but I will raise it again when Cabinet meets on Friday or Tuesday.

As we know, the number of people who are homeless has fallen by approximately 20% in the past year. Now, that is only 20%. It means for every five people who were homeless there are now four. It is going in the right direction but it is not enough. Notwithstanding that, there seems to be an increase in the number of people availing of homeless services who experienced a premature death in the past year. That should be a matter of concern. It is always a matter of concern that people who use homeless services die early. They may die considerably earlier than average. It is of particular concern that the number of deaths is rising at a time when the number of homeless people is falling. We need to get to the bottom of that and respond to it as an emergency, as the Deputy describes it.

What is being done? Cold weather arrangements are being put in place at the moment for the winter period, including more bed capacity and 24-hour facilities with meals, continuous placement for families and enhanced rough sleeper outreach. The Dublin street outreach services are provided by Dublin Simon Community and funded by Government. This involves a broader engagement for people who are sleeping rough. There has also been an increase in the mobile health clinic. It delivers weekly services to outreach teams in co-operation with Dublin Simon Community and the Housing First intake team, which is part of the Peter McVerry Trust.

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