Charity reports surge in homelessness and drug use

One organisation provided more than 85,000 meals to homeless people in Dublin last year - an increase of 11% on 2012.

Merchants Quay Ireland says their annual report for 2013 highlights the growing problems of homelessness and drug use in the capital, amid a housing crisis.

The report also shows demand for its needle exchange service in Dublin rose by 16% with more than 2,000 clients last year, while there was a 10% increase in new users accessing the service.

It also found that 58% of admissions to its St Francis Farm Detox unit and nearly half of those accessing its drug-free rehab service came from outside Dublin.

"We provide a number of drug treatment programmes. We've a residential, fully medically supervised detox unit on a working farm we have in Carlow," said Tony Geoghegan, CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland.

"[58%] of people that went through that detox last year were from outside the greater Dublin area, and 18 different counties were represented."

"In this year, in 2014, the demand for our services has increased even further … the levels of homelessness in the city [and] the housing provision is silted up.

"New people that become homeless aren't being able to access emergency accommodation - and that is a serious, serious concern."