Number of Dublin homeless down 19% since 2002

The number of homeless people in Dublin has fallen by almost a fifth in the past three years, according to the Government's Homeless Agency.

The body said its latest assessment, conducted in the final week of March last year, found that 2,015 people were homeless in Dublin, 19% on the figures for 2002.

The Homeless Agency also said the number of homeless people sleeping rough in Dublin in the final week of March 2005 was 185, down 33% from the figures for 1999.

The agency said the statistics showed that efforts to combat homelessness were proving effective.

However, organisations working with the homeless say they have experienced no real change in the situation in recent years.

Fr Peter McVerry, the founder of the Arrupe Society, also said he believed "hidden homelessness" - whereby people are sleeping on their friend's floors or sofas - had increased due to a reluctance to stay in hostels and emergency accommodation with well-documented drugs problems.