95 homeless people died in Dublin in 2022, new figures show.
The stats also revealed 23 of those who died were in supported temporary accommodation. Despite the decrease in homeless deaths from 115 in 2021, the worrying stats are still well above the numbers seen in the previous three years.
Dr Austin O'Carroll, who works with homeless people in Dublin, said there are many factors to this, but one of the main ones is that homeless people are much more likely to be the victims of violence while living on the streets. Speaking to Newstalk, who accessed the figures under the Freedom of Information Act, Dr O’Carroll said: "Poverty is associated with things like increased addiction - including alcohol addiction and in particular drug addiction.
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"People often enter homelessness as a result of these and these things do cause earlier death." The doctor also said that homelessness can exacerbate these issues and liver failure and overdosing are significant causes of death among homeless people.
Additionally, homeless people are more likely to be the victims of violence and car accidents because they are frequently on the streets, Dr O'Carroll said.
Beaumont Hospital consultant Professor Bill Tormey said there are other factors involved as well. "Flu, Covid -- all that sort of stuff – they would also kill people even though they go into hostels because they just pass it around among each other in hostels."
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