‘Child may be next homeless death’

“I’ve worked in homeless services for nearly 22 years now at this stage and I’ve never seen it as bad. Rough sleeping has increased, family homelessness has increased, the number of children homeless has increased, the lack of good quality accommodation, the lack of any type of accommodation… it’s hitting people very hard.”

These are the words of Ger Spillane, Focus Ireland’s Cork manager, who said the country’s homeless crisis continues to worsen. The next homeless death, he said, could easily be that of a child and he urged the Government to do more to solve the problem before that happens.

Mr Spillane’s comments come as homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry and Environment Minister Alan Kelly became embroiled in a public spat about the standard of emergency accommodation.