A HOMELESS man found dead at Tallaght Hospital at the weekend was slumped in a chair for four hours before anyone noticed, it has emerged.
The man, aged in his 40s, died in the waiting area of the hospital's emergency department on Saturday afternoon.
He was discovered at around 5.30pm but had likely been dead for a number of hours, according to the Irish Sun.
In a statement, a Garda spokesman confirmed they had launched an investigation.
“A post-mortem will be carried out to establish the cause of death. However foul play is not suspected,” gardaí said.
In their own statement last night, the hospital said they were co-operating with the probe.
Sadly another homeless person has passed away last night. The individual presented to a city hospital and was found dead a number of hours later in the waiting area of A&E. This is yet another indictment on the failure to implement a proper function homeless service. #Homeless
— Anthony Flynn (@AnthonyICHH) April 15, 2018
“The person in question is understood to have been homeless and had been sheltering at the Hospital and had not sought medical treatment,” a spokesperson said.
“Management at the Hospital are co-operating with the Gardai in their investigations and an internal review will also be initiated immediately into the circumstances of the incident.
"The Hospital would like to extend their condolences to the family of the deceased.”
The Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) charity said that homelessness was “beyond crisis levels” and called for Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to begin an immediate review of homeless services.
ICHH chief executive Anthony Flynn tweeted: "Sadly another homeless person has passed away last night. The individual presented to a city hospital and was found dead a number of hours later in the waiting area of A&E.
"This is yet another indictment on the failure to implement a proper function homeless service."
