DUBLIN has set a grim new record after almost two-hundred people were recorded sleeping rough in the Irish capital earlier this month.
According to new figures from the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE), a total of 184 homeless people slept on the streets of Dublin on the night of November 7.
That compares with the previous highest figure of 168 – which was recorded in the winter of 2014.
The new record also shows a steady increase from 161 in the spring count and 142 last winter.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy announced that his department will deliver 200 permanent emergency beds as part of its cold weather initiative, "so that there will be a bed and all the necessary supports available for anyone who needs them."
Mr Murphy said that all of the beds will be in place by December 18 – exactly a week before Christmas.
"We are entering a cold weather period, when people will be particularly vulnerable,” he told Newstalk.
"It is imperative that we have in place a coordinated and robust response for anyone who might be sleeping rough over this period. Hence the need for a Cold Weather Strategy.
"There will be more than enough spare capacity in the system, as an additional precaution.”
The DRHE's new figures also show a big increase in the number of foreign rough sleepers with at least 53 being non-Irish, while the nationality of another 51 could not be determined.
Outside of Dublin, an additional 25 emergency beds are available in Cork, 34 in Galway and in Limerick an additional 10 beds are currently in place.
