McVerry: Homelessness crisis needs more than emergency beds

The first 31 emergency beds are to be made available today to help get homeless people off the streets of Dublin.

Last week the Government promised 200 beds would be provided before Christmas, so no one has to sleep rough unless they want to.

The new accommodation will be provided in Dublin's south inner city, in a building supplied by Focus Ireland and staffed by the Fr Peter McVerry Trust.

The funding is to be agreed at a Cabinet sub-committee meeting this afternoon, which is also expected to sign off on dozens of extra beds around the city over the coming weeks.

Father Peter McVerry has welcomed the Government's help, but says they have yet to provide a permanent solution to the crisis.

Fr McVerry said: "There is a commitment to over 200 beds, I do believe those will happen.

"However, providing an emergency bed is not the answer to homelessness.

"People are being evicted from the private rented sector at a huge rate and going into homelessness. Unless we address that problem, we're going to need another 200 emergency beds in January and maybe another 200 in February."