THE introduction of 100% mortgages by banks and building societies has played an important role in creating the current housing crisis, a leading homeless campaigner has claimed.

The Government must fast-track social housing projects if a major homelessness crisis in the future is to be avoided, a leading charity warned today.

DEBATE will begin shortly on the new programme for government.

CHARITIES cannot reclaim VAT on expenditure like the business sector does.

IRELAND’s housing crisis will soar over the next nine years with 600,000 new homes needed, government estimates yesterday showed.

Focus Ireland welcomed today's launch of the Government's new housing policy statement 'Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities' but the organisation stressed the document is limited in scope and weakened by a failure to address in detail core issues impacting on the delivering of homes to those most in need.

Focus Ireland has welcomed the launch by the Homeless Agency of its third action plan on homelessness entitled 'A Key to the Door'.

The Budget favoured the super-wealthy and did not address the real issues facing Irish society, Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte claimed tonight.

Homeless charity Focus Ireland today called on Finance Minister Brian Cowen to earmark €2bn in the upcoming Budget for social housing.

A London-Irish writer who survived alcoholism, homelessness and brutal prison conditions will today give his first-ever book reading in Ireland.

Homeless people have helped museum chiefs to create a unique exhibition on the concept of home, it emerged today.

A campaign spearheaded by four leading charities was launched today to end homelessness over the next four years.

HOUSE builders should be stopped from dodging a legal obligation to ensure 20% of new estates contain social housing, campaigners demanded last night.

A €200m strategy was today launched by Focus Ireland to tackle homelessness in cities across the country.

THE Government’s failure to prioritise homelessness in this year’s budget was a missed opportunity to help some of the most vulnerable people in the country, charities said.

The Government must invest an extra €800m in social housing to cut growing waiting lists and tackle homelessness, a charity demanded today.

Focus Ireland has called on the Government to do more to tackle a chronic shortage of social housing throughout the country.

More than 5,500 people are estimated to be homeless in Ireland over the festive season, it emerged today.

The Government must double the amount of social housing to end the crisis in homelessness and lack of housing, it was claimed today.

FOCUS Ireland, the anti-poverty lobby, has accused the Government of providing ‘scraps’ to the homeless and disadvantaged and decried welfare cuts.

THE Taoiseach says he will be fighting to avoid a two-tier Europe during Ireland’s EU presidency. Focus Ireland thinks Mr Ahern is operating double standards because he is actually presiding over a two-tier country as our homeless and housing crisis is now worse than ever.

An emergency accommodation project targeting young homeless people with addiction problems was launched in Dublin today.

UP TO 40% of homeless people suffer mental ill-health, locking them into a cycle of homelessness and resulting in imprisonment for some.

FOLLOWING the publication of Focus Ireland’s Annual Report 2002 last week, the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Noel Ahern, said Focus had misled people suggesting “5,000 people were sleeping rough” and he added that “temporary accommodation is in place for those who require it”.

HOMELESS people spend up to a year-and-a-half in B&B accommodation, compared with just 20 days 10 years ago, Focus Ireland has claimed.

The Government came under fire today for its record on providing shelter for the country’s homeless.

THOUSANDS of homeless people will get less help from aid organisation Focus Ireland, because it received only three-quarters of the financial assistance it sought from the Government this year.

MORE people than ever are sleeping rough because the Government has reneged on its pledge to tackle a homeless crisis, charity groups said yesterday.

A GROUP campaigning for the homeless has called on the Government parties to drop plans for a Dáil gym and give their social conscience a workout instead.

MORE than 1,000 children were forced to beg on Dublin’s streets in the past year and to survive in appalling conditions.

The Taoiseach is to receive up to 40,000 postcards through the post in protest at the shortfall in local authority housing.