Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity, has warmly welcomed a marked decline in the number of people sleeping rough in the city. The winter 2019 rough sleeper count has found that 92 people were sleeping rough on the night of 26th November, a 41% decline on winter 2018.

Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust said “We are encouraged to see such a significant drop in the official number of people sleeping rough. A 41% decline on last year’s count is a hugely positive outcome and a welcome reduction at a time of huge challenges for people impacted by homelessness.”

This drop is closely linked to an increase in resources provided by the DRHE in the form of additional emergency beds, intensified street outreach work by Peter McVerry Trust and Dublin Simon and an increase in Housing First targets for Dublin which has seen, and will continue to see, more homes secured for people who were sleeping rough across the city.

Peter McVerry Trust together with the DRHE and the four Dublin Local Authorities and with funding from the Department of Housing is now working on a new Housing First programme which will deliver 630 tenancies for people impacted by rough sleeping by mid-2022.

“While we secure more options to house rough sleepers, the continuous efforts to add additional emergency accommodation provision has also ensured that the number of people sleeping rough has dropped. We now provide almost 700 emergency beds across the Dublin region. Obviously, there is much more to do given we have 92 people sleeping rough and Peter McVerry Trust continues to work to progress much needed emergency accommodation for people who are sleeping rough across Dublin.

Peter McVerry Trust was happy to work together with Dublin Simon and staff from the DRHE/DCC to ensure that appropriately qualified and experienced staff were available to carry out the official Winter rough sleeper count in an effective, sensitive and professional manner.