Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I am surprised at the Taoiseach. These figures are very stark and real. There are direct correlations between being homeless and losing one's life. Equivocating or fudging at this point in 2022, after years of this, is simply not good enough.

Ten or 15 years ago, the Government might have had an excuse for doing so. However, equivocating on these figures, the direct correlation and the cause and effect that is happening on the streets of Dublin is wrong at this point. If that is the stage the Government is at, it surely will be a problem in terms of urgently putting resources in place to fix the situation. Dr. O'Carroll, who was commissioned by the Minister, said that the length of time for which a person is homeless leads directly to an increased chance of mortality. We know the number of people dying correlates exactly with the number who are homeless. The truth is that people do not have access to primary care, mental health services and dual diagnosis services. They are living in conditions where they are exposed to the weather, to violence on the streets, alcoholism, etc. All of those issues are contributing factors to the deaths that are occurring.

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