THE men in sharp suits outside the Dublin Financial Services Centre jingle their car keys and talk about tax cuts and the shifting pound. The shiny, green glass of the building is just visible from where James Egan, Wendy McNevin and children Gareth (2), Nikita (5) and Sean (4) sit in a B&B in nearby Gardiner Street.
There is no sign of the Celtic Tiger in the dingy basement room occupied by the couple and their children. Two sets of bunk beds take up most of the space. The carpet is stained and the interior of a wardrobe is a mess of broken televisions and rolls of carpet.
A notice upstairs advertises that the establishment serves Continental Breakfasts. "What a joke," says James. Each morning, the family receive five slices of toast, five rolls and five fairy cakes. "We often go without so that the kids can at least fill themselves up on the cakes," says Wendy. The couple would like to buy food in the supermarket and cook it in the tiny kitchen beside their room but they are not allowed.
"We can spend up to £10 a day on going to the chipper or other places but it would be much cheaper if we could make our own meals," she says.
James has been listening to the radio (they have no television) over the past few days and is annoyed by the endless discussions about the booming economy and the Celtic Tiger.
"This talk is all for rich people," he says. "It means more money for the people who already have it and no extra services for the ones who really need them." He has looked for work but employers don't want to know when your "home" is a B&B.
Every day has been "more or less the same", say the couple since they were forced to move from their rented house in Tallaght when the lease ran out last month. They were moved here by the Eastern Health Board "because we had nowhere else to go".
The family is entitled to exactly £140.50 in weekly social welfare payments. Some £43 of this goes on James's prescription for a litre of methadone (a heroin substitute). While he has never taken heroin, he has been addicted to methadone for the past three years.
Nikita goes to a local national school, the two boys attend the recently opened creche in Temple Bar run by Focus Ireland, the homeless agency. Every week, the family visit the EHB centre for the homeless in Charles Street to book the B&B for the next seven days.
Wendy and James spend most of their days on a frustrating search for permanent accommodation. "Either they don't take EHB people or they don't take kids," explains Wendy. They go home at around 4 p.m. when Nikita finishes school and are in bed by 6 p.m. most days because the woman who runs the B&B won't "turn the heat on".
"We have lost our dignity and, worse, our self respect," says James.
SISTER Stanislaus Kennedy, president of Focus Ireland, confirms that the story of James and Wendy is not unusual in the capital where it is estimated 5,000 people avail of its services in any year.
"A B&B is the last place a family should be staying but the scarcity of housing is such that it is the only way to accommodate families without splitting them up."
She is "astounded" that the current election campaign is being thought "on economics, as opposed to quality of life". According to her, a national strategy for public and voluntary housing with the resources to back it up is crucial".
"It is virtually impossible for a single person to get public housing and the rising property prices mean they are being `squeezed out' of the private housing sector."
Focus Ireland's housing division, partly funded by the Government, provides low cost housing for 100 people in Stanhope Green. A new project in George's Hill, providing mixed housing for a further 100, is almost completed.
"We were able to get these projects off the ground because we got the sites free from religious organisations; even still there was shortfall of £250,000 in each case. There is not an endless supply of free sites. Things cannot move forward with the current level of Government support."
Father Peter McVerry has been working with homeless children for the past 20 years and says the economic boom is passing them by, as they are not "economically useful".
Last week, he wrote a letter to this newspaper questioning why, if over £1 billion is available for tax cuts, a "13 year old boy with cerebral palsy" spent two nights on the streets because there was nowhere for him to go. He says, despite the buoyant economic climate, there are more children sleeping rough now "than ever before".
"I am permanently angry about the situation," he says, wearily sitting in the inner city office from where he coordinates the running of three hostels. He claims his budget for housing 20 homeless children for a year is about the same as it costs to run the Government jet for 1 1/2 weeks.
By focusing the election on tax cuts, Father McVerry believes the political parties are underestimating the public. The parties seem to be appealing to a selfishness that is just not characteristic of Irish society. Ireland wouldn't for one second have accepted the Thatcherite policies of 1980s Britain.
If one party had the courage to say, for example, This year we are going to eliminate homelessness by providing more emergency and residential accommodation I believe they would receive massive support and people would be willing to compromise on tax.
The issues surrounding tax and take home pay mean nothing to James Egan and Wendy McNevin and their children who are living proof that the rising economic tide is not lifting all boats. They have been put on the Focus Ireland's housing list but they are likely to remain in the B&B for several weeks.
When asked whether he wished his name to be changed for this article, James was adamant that his full identity be recorded.
"To be honest at this stage I want everyone to know that there are people existing on a completely different level even though life seems brilliant for everyone else."