A COLD-WEATHER shelter for people sleeping rough is to open in Dublin by the end of the week, Minister for the Environment John Gormley has said. The shelter would be "basic", offering a bed and some essentials such as washing facilities and hot drinks.
A vacant building is currently being identified for the shelter.
The Department of the Environment will not advertise its location in case it attracts protests from residents.
Mr Gormley said he had moved on the issue after hearing homelessness campaigner Alice Leahy express her concern in a radio interview last week that, despite the provision of emergency accommodation, some people were still sleeping rough.
She said some did not want to access available accommodation due to fears about filling in forms and undergoing checks before being admitted, noting the Trust centre, which she founded, met "up to 60 people a morning" who had been sleeping out. "We have people who are coming in from parks, who are coming in from bushes absolutely frozen," she said.
She said she was shocked that no one had called for a vacant building to be used to accommodate such people during winter.
Mr Gormley said he had had a meeting with Ms Leahy before Christmas and was in touch with her immediately on hearing her interviewed on Thursday. "I went into Trust on Friday morning and she said this was the big issue at the moment. So I was immediately in touch with the officials in my department who in turn contacted Dublin City Council."
He said the council was identifying a suitable site, which would be "in the city centre" and it would be open by the end of the week.
There was a "strong grapevine" among homeless, he said, and hoped word-of-mouth would ensure people who needed it would hear of the shelter.
There was a range of emergency accommodation already in place, he stressed. However, he acknowledged most such accommodation asked for information about people accessing their services and this was felt intrusive by some homeless people.
"This new service will be aimed at them. It will be basic and there to ensure people can get out of the cold and rain."
This was "essentially a pilot project" but if it is deemed to have been a success it would be repeated in coming years.
Ms Leahy said she was "delighted" at the move. "We welcome the fact certainly that the Minister moved so quickly."
In a separate development the Minister of State with responsibility for housing said up to a third of those on the housing waiting list may not actually want a local authority house.
Speaking to The Irish Times Michael Finneran said an in-depth study of the housing list figures was under way in his department. Latest figures show there are about 65,000 people on a local authority waiting list.
"It could be that up to 20,000 wouldn't want a house and are happy to remain in private-rented accommodation with a rent subsidy," he said.
