70 extra beds to be provided for homeless in Kildare during December

70 extra beds have been set aside for the month of December to assist those on the streets during the festive month.

The announcement was made by the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, who said that there will be a new initiative introduced which will provide more than 330 new beds for the Dublin and Kildare areas in December. 203 of those will be based in hostels and another 130 will be temporary beds, with Kildare set to be allocated 70 of them.

The group have also promised that assistance will be provided on the streets from 7am until 1am daily during December.

"The impact of severe weather can be immediately life threatening to people who are sleeping rough and it is essential to have a coordinated response plan in place for the duration of the cold weather period," read a statement from the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive.

"Services operate throughout the year to support persons who are rough sleeping. However, there is an increased emphasis on the level of service provision during the cold period in order to mitigate against the health risks that people can be exposed to, through rough sleeping in cold weather conditions.

"The cold weather period provides opportunities for engagement with long-term rough sleepers and hard-to-reach groups, where increased supports need to be available. "