Greg DalyAlmost 2,500 people aged 24 or younger could be homeless in Ireland by Christmas, campaigners have said.
Speaking at the launch of Ireland’s first youth café for homeless people, Peter McVerry Trust CEO Pat Doyle urged TUSLA and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to play a much more prominent and proactive role in helping children and families experiencing homelessness.
Every child who enters homelessness now will be negatively impacted and need years of support from the State to recover, he said, adding that the café will be important “as it provides a safe and supportive space to vulnerable young people”.
Francis Doherty, the trust’s communications and advocacy manager, told The Irish Catholic that country’s homelessness crisis has reached a point where national coordination is urgently needed, and “in the medium term we need a minister for homelessness, even a junior minister in the Department of the Taoiseach who can reach across departments”.