Charity urges Govt to stop charging homeless people for prescriptions

Dr Austin O'Carroll said: "People don't realise but more people die from drug related death than from suicide or car accidents combined. It's the biggest killer of young people."

A leading healthcare agency has called on the Government to lift prescription charges for homeless people.

Safetynet Primary Care, a charity which runs 20 clinics in Dublin, Limerick and Cork, said the benefit would be a "quick fix" to some of the health problems for people in emergency accommodation and hostels.