Simon Coveney admits failings after deaths of three ‘on streets’

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has described the deaths of three homeless people this week as a “tragedy”, but says the Government is responding to the housing crisis.

Mr Coveney says 3,000 families were taken out of homelessness last year, but the Government is “running to stand still”, because of the scale of the crisis.

“Anytime someone dies in a vulnerable place is a tragedy,” he said of the three deaths. “The State has a duty to minimise the risk to those in a vulnerable position. I am very saddened by them.”