City Council chief: good homeless services in Dublin create demand for them

Wide range of public services attracts more people to city. Economic growth has created rise in family homelessness

Owen Keegan, chief executive, Dublin City Council Pic: Bryan Meade

Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan has said the local authority’s success in providing quality homeless accommodation is creating a danger of excessive demand and some people may not want to leave.

“There’s been a huge investment by the city council with the Department of Housing in the homeless services, massive investment and better solutions,” Keegan said.

“Every year, we’ve added 200-300 bed spaces, they’re much higher-quality spaces, but one of the ...