Ruadhán Jones
Politicians and homelessness activists tell Ruadhán Jones about the importance of recording homeless deaths
In Dublin last year, the number of people dying in homelessness rose by 61%. In 2019, 49 people died in homelessness; in 2018 it was 47; in 2020, the number was 79, according to the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE).
Given that the capital experienced such an exponential increase in deaths, you would expect the pattern to be repeated across Ireland. It may have been – it may not. The fact is that we don’t know because regional authorities are not required to record the number of homeless deaths and there is no national body responsible to collect the figures.
We’ve asked the Government to record the number of homeless people in each county and the number of homeless people who are dying”
This, according to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, is a “shocking thing”. The Meath TD has been questioning the Government’s approach to the issue of homeless people’s deaths, as well as wider issues related to homelessness, for several months.
“The current state of play is that homeless deaths are not collected or recorded in other local authorities outside of Dublin,” Mr Tóibín explains. “It’s only Dublin that collects them which is a shocking thing. Obviously, Dublin is likely to be the worst affected, but no doubt every local authority, every county in the country is suffering with regard to homelessness.
“We’ve asked the Government to record the number of homeless people in each county and the number of homeless people who are dying. We’ve also asked Government to carry out an investigation into the reason why there are so many homeless deaths this year. The figures are far higher this year than in previous years.”
A review
The Government is currently conducting a review on the question of homeless deaths, though the results have not been released yet, Mr Tóibín explains.
“I haven’t seen it yet – but I do know that Darragh O’Brien was out recently stating that some of the homeless deaths were not as a result of homelessness,” he continues. “He quotes one situation where a homeless person was killed in a car accident.
“My view on that would be that, to be honest, similar to other ministers previously, he is trying to change the nature of the statistics instead of trying to fix the problem itself in the first place. The criteria for recording homeless deaths hasn’t changed in five years, yet the numbers radically increased. Maybe one or two situations are for issues such as car accidents, but it can’t explain the great increase in the last while.”
There is a level of complexity involved in recording homeless deaths, however, as Paul Sheehan of Cork Simon explains. Cork Simon works with people in homelessness, offering food and shelter to those who come.
“The issue of homeless deaths is very difficult because certainly we would come across cases where people who would be known to homeless services have died, but quite often we don’t know why they died until the post-mortem or inquest is completed,” Mr Sheehan tells The Irish Catholic. “Certainly the inquest can be sometime later.
“You know, can you say for certain that the persons homelessness contributed to their death? Or was it one of the factors for why they became homeless that contributed to their death? It depends on how you look at it I suppose.
“If you’re just looking at anyone who is homeless, so in the Government’s eyes that would be anybody staying in emergency accommodation. If you just look at it black and white, how many people died who were using emergency accommodation? That might be one way to look at it.
Peadar Tóibín agrees it is essential that the deaths be recorded, though for slightly different reasons”
“But the complexities around homelessness means that people often have very complex underlying health conditions that may also contribute to their passing. In some cases, it might be self-inflicted, in some cases it might be an overdose, you know it’s very difficult.”
However, Mr Sheehan still believes that having the statistics would help their service. There are currently 402 people accessing homelessness accommodation in Cork, a slight decrease from the high of 447 in October 2019. These figures are not exhaustive, as they don’t include those sleeping rough or outside emergency accommodation. As to the number of deaths, Mr Sheehan doesn’t know as the figures aren’t recorded. He sees the statistics as the first step on the road to a more detailed understanding of how people in homelessness are dying.
“Absolutely, the more information we have the better,” he says. “The more information we have that may point to a gap in services that could be filled absolutely. We’d be all for that.
Service provision
“There are reasons that can be identified as to why that person died, or maybe that have contributed to their death, and we want to know if there’s some way that could be addressed in the future. Is there a gap in service provision that is contributing to people’s deaths? Certainly we’d be very open to that.”
Peadar Tóibín agrees it is essential that the deaths be recorded, though for slightly different reasons. For him, recording deaths is a means of getting to the heart of the homelessness crisis.
“There’s a rule in Government – if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” Mr Tóibín explains. “If you don’t know how big a problem is, it’s not likely that you will respond properly to it or how to respond to it. In another situation, we got 20 TDs to write a letter into the minister in terms of measuring the number of people who die in direct provision in this country and the cause of those deaths. That’s not been done either.
Each area – the lack of houses, the number of deaths, the number of people in homelessness – bleeds into the other”
“This country has had investigations and reports written into people dying and how they died in other institutions in the history of this nation. And rightly people have been shocked and horrified by the content of these reports. Yet in the society we live in today, there are people dying in institutions, such as direct provision. And there are people dying on the streets from homelessness. There’s no efforts made by Government to record all of those figures or to understand why it happened so that we can figure it out.”
For the Meath TD, it is imperative that everyone knows what is happening with regard to homelessness in order that the full breadth of the problem can be addressed. Each area – the lack of houses, the number of deaths, the number of people in homelessness – bleeds into the other.
“I think the housing department in each local authority should be recording this information, it should be collating this information and passing it on to the minister for housing,” Mr Tóibín said. “The minister for housing should have monthly reports on what’s happening so that the minister can see if there’s any changes happening throughout the country, if its localised to particular regions.
“It was strange that the minister himself didn’t seek to do this. One of the aspects the minister has been dragging his heels on the issue of homeless deaths. Another, which I raised in the Dáil, is the fact that if you’re homeless in Dublin but not from Dublin, you are being refused support in Dublin and told to go back to your own county.
Primetime
“I raised this in the Dáil and nothing was done about it. It was only when primetime held the RTÉ investigates show into homeless deaths that it was acknowledged by the minister and efforts were made to resolve that. Yet I’ve had reports since that the situation has occurred again, people having been denied homeless services in Dublin because they’re not from Dublin and told to go back to their own local authority.”
Since speaking to Mr Tóibín, another investigation by RTÉ has revealed that Dublin City Council has reversed its decision and is now offering its services to homeless people from outside Dublin.
Mr Sheehan agrees that clarity is needed and more information on homeless deaths in order to help those most in need.
Homelessness
”We know that people experiencing homelessness die younger,” Mr Sheehan says. “Obviously, it’s particularly those who are chronically homeless and I think the last statistic I saw was the average age of death for a chronic rough sleeper was 42. Rough sleeping is a significant factor. That is being addressed. Anybody who looks for an emergency bed these days will get one.
“But there are those who choose for whatever reason not to avail of social services and that’s a group of people that we need to pay particular attention to. Usually its related to poor mental health or some trauma in their childhood that leads to chronic mistrust, whatever the case may be. But it’s a group of people that needs our attention.”
There is also a moral component to our failure to acknowledge the deaths and lives of people in homelessness. The bare minimum we owe to the homeless dead is this recognition, Peadar Tóibín believes.
“In many ways the lack of recording or understanding what’s happening, it may be a measure of the value that the state puts on them to a certain extent,” Mr Tóibín says.
When asked if we have failed those who die in homeless, Paul Sheehan argues that it is not us, but the State who have “failed every person who has become homeless first of all.”
There is another element in play which often goes amiss – who buries the homeless dead?”
“Well, you know, I think it’s a stretch to say we’ve failed,” Mr Sheehan says. “I think the State has failed every person who has become homeless first of all. I think we should be starting from that premise. Again I would say when somebody is using homeless services dies – and it may not be when they’re using homeless services – there are contributing factors to that and was their homelessness a contributing factor?
“Unless we have we have a clear view of that, we couldn’t say that people using the services, whatever services they’re using we’ve failed. Everything that could be done may possibly have been done. That’s a bit of a leap too far maybe.”
Capuchin Day Centre
There is another element in play which often goes amiss – who buries the homeless dead? As part of their ministry to homeless people in Dublin, the Capuchin Day Centre owns a plot in Glasnevin cemetery where people without families can receive a decent burial.
“We would occasionally be contacted, maybe a person was found dead in whatever accommodation they had, they’d no one belonging to them,” Bro. Kevin Crowley OFM Cap explains. “And we would take care of them. Recently, we were contacted about a person found in accommodation who, when we contacted the police, they weren’t in a position to contact anyone belonging to them. Those are the type of people who we would take care of, we have a plot up in Glasnevin where we bury them.”
On the question of addressing homeless deaths, Bro Kevin recognises that it’s a difficult, multifaceted issue. For the Day Centre, what they seek to do is ensure those who come to them receive the best treatment they can give.
“I suppose you see the thing is you’re always going to have homeless people deaths, and for various reasons,” Bro. Kevin says. “You’ll have sudden death, you’ll have people living in their own accommodations. Sometimes we’ll get a call that people who are coming in here to the centre and they would be living maybe in the – they wouldn’t just be on the streets like.
“Our main concern here is to make sure that everybody is fed, to make sure that everybody is seen by our doctor, to make sure that everybody is seen by our dentist, our chiropodist. We always make sure they get the necessary medical attention.
I heard last week that the local Dublin authority removed a load of tents from a part of Dublin”
“Our other primary concern is respect for those who have died, who have no one belonging to them, we make sure they get a dignified burial, one which creates some dignity.”
While the issue of homelessness is not going anywhere fast, there are small and simple ways we can begin to address it. The first step, as with a struggling alcoholic, is to admit there is a problem. The next step is to find out why, what, where and how. To answer those questions regarding homeless deaths means the Government needs to gather information and not bury its head in the sand. We owe it those in homelessness, that their dignity is not undervalued in death.
Reactive
“I get the sense that the Government sit on the their hands and are not proactive but reactive,” Peadar Tóibín says. “I heard last week that the local Dublin authority removed a load of tents from a part of Dublin. A lot of homeless people had erected tents around the city and they had been cleared as well.
“I just think there’s a major issue around housing for a start, there is major issue with regard to homelessness, these people are probably in the most difficult situation in the country. The minister needs to be proactive on it, he needs to get to grips with why these individuals are dying.”