The Government has moved to allay criticism of its funding of services for Ireland's growing homeless population.
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment Mr Noel Ahern said the Government remained "committed to tackling homelessness" insisting "the rise in the level of homelessness is minimal".
Mr Ahern said the €43 million spent by his Department on accommodation and related services for homeless persons in 2002 compared well with the €12.5 million spent in 1999. He added that "in spite of the tight financial situation", €50 million would be spent in 2003.
He was responding to claims made in the Dublin Simon Community's annual report, published today, that the Government had failed to honor its promise to fully fund these services. The report accused the Government of "trying to avoid confirming the continued existence of a homelessness crisis".
Mr Ahern said that he had approved funding of more than €1.6 million for Dublin Simon's accommodation and related programmes for homeless persons for 2003, "including over 420,000 for their street outreach programme which is an increase of 11 per cent on the funding in 2002".
Chief Executive Greg Maxwell, however said that the Dublin Simon Community had received less than two-thirds of the funding needed. "We have managed to double our service provision on the streets, without doubling our costs, and still the Government will not meet their commitments.".
According to the Simon report, the number of new people in contact with their Outreach Services in the first quarter of 2003 already exceeds the number for the first six months of 2002.
The report recommended that to solve the "homelessness crisis", the Government must increase substantially its spending on social housing, and initiate a comprehensive review of the national strategy to tackle homelessness.
Almost 3,000 adults are homeless in the Greater Dublin Area, according to the Simon report.