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The City Council of Dublin has examined a housing project for homeless people on a cruise ship.
Initially envisioned two years ago, the idea would have seen a rented boat lodge about 100 to 150 singles,
But it appeared that the chief executive of the council, Owen Keegan, had suggested that the plan could be "revisited" in a letter to the Irish Housing Minister, Eoghan Murphy, in September, by The Irish Times.
After being made public by the newspaper, Murphy insisted on Twitter that the idea "was not suitable for homeless families in need."
He added: "The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive is looking for better and more appropriate solutions every day."
Deputy Director General of Dublin City Council Brendan Kenny confirmed L & # 39; Independent that the idea was not pursued for the moment, but added: "This is something we could not exclude in the future".
Daithí Doolan of Sinn Féin, who chairs the council's housing committee, condemned the idea.
It is estimated that 10,000 people marched in Dublin this week to protest the housing crisis (PA)
"Our energy must be used to provide real homes," he said. "This is the long-term solution, and if people are left homeless, we must provide them with good quality, safe and dignified accommodation." The housing of people on a ship does not check any of these boxes. . "
Brian McLoughlin, head of communication at ICHH, a Dublin homeless charity, called the cruise ship plan "pride" and called on the authorities to act in a more manageable way. concrete.
"The council needs to look at the large number of vacant council houses and put them back online as a matter of urgency," he said. "The government must also ensure that mandatory orders are enforced on privately owned property and vulture funds that are empty of funds during the worst homelessness and housing crisis in the history of our state."
Homelessness has been growing in Ireland for several years, but has recently become a political hot potato, in part because of the number of families becoming homeless due to a shortage of social housing, an increase the cost of rent and evictions.
August statistics showed that 9,527 people were homeless in Ireland, with 1,698 families of 3,693 children receiving emergency shelter.
That month, it appeared that a woman and her six children had been forced to spend the night in a police station. There was widespread outrage after a photo of the family sleeping on metal chairs became viral.
Earlier this week, about 10,000 people marched in Dublin as part of the #RaiseTheRoof event, with a wide range of politicians, families and students coming together to demand a solution.
Mr. Murphy survived a motion of censure presented to the Irish Parliament by Sinn Féin. Later, he told a committee that he did not know when the crisis would reach its peak, but he defended his attempts to solve it.
"I can tell you that we are in crisis," he said. I can tell you that this is fundamentally linked to the lack of houses under construction, but I can also tell you that the construction of new homes has increased dramatically. "
