Vol. 560 No. 1
888 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will investigate a situation where there was no crisis emergency accommodation available for the homeless from 24 December to 31 December 2002 and a temporary emergency project had to be put in place by volunteers in the Cork City area which was used by 33 homeless people during the eight day period. [1154/03]
As part of the cold weather strategy in Cork City, arrangements were put in place to provide a temporary emergency shelter for homeless persons over the Christmas period from 24 December to 31 December. This provision was in addition to the existing accommodation which is available to meet the needs of homeless persons in the Cork City area.
Cork City Council liaised with the various voluntary bodies regarding the provision of the shelter and, as in previous years, this shelter was operated through voluntary effort. While financial support is available from the city council for this purpose, no application for funding for the project has yet been received by the council.
While a total of 33 homeless persons used the shelter over the period, the average number on any night was 11 persons and only one person used the shelter for all eight nights.
