Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Last Friday, a 69-year-old man known as Iggy, who was originally from Poland, was found dead in a laneway off Little Catherine Street in Limerick city. Pauline Casey and Sarah Beasley, an Aontú representative and homeless activist in Limerick, knew Iggy from their work in helping the homeless. They spoke to Iggy on the night he died. This was especially poignant for Pauline because she had lost her sister Louise on the streets in 2016. I know that gardaí in Limerick city are involved and that efforts are under way to try to repatriate Iggy's remains to his native Poland. The Minister may know about this particular case and may be able to update us as to the efforts in this regard. My party, Aontú, is happy to see if it can help to raise funds for some of the costs associated with the repatriation of Iggy’s remains. God rest his soul.

Iggy is just one of the people who have died in homelessness in the past year. I raised this issue in the House in October, November and December. The Minister mentioned a previous Deputy leaving the Chamber before the debate had finished. In two of those debates, before I rose to speak and provide this information on the floor of the House, the Minister had left. He would not have heard my contribution in respect of these particular cases. I was the one who brought to the floor of the Dáil the information that just under 60 people had died in homelessness in Dublin city last year. This figure was higher than those for the two previous years, which is shocking. An RTÉ journalist had a camera in front of the Minister on a site where houses were being built and asked him a question on the figures I had brought to the Dáil that day. The Minister responded by saying that he would hold an investigation into the deaths of people in homelessness who have happened in Dublin in the past year. Where stands that investigation? Is it near completion and will the Minister share the details of what is known so far with the House?

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