Finance will not be a problem when it comes to tackling homelessness, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment pledged yesterday as survey results showed an estimated 5,000 people homeless in the State.
Mr Robert Molloy said he was not surprised by the Eastern Health Board area survey findings.
He said homelessness was not just an accommodation issue but a complex problem which involved factors such as health and social welfare.
"I don't see availability of funding being a major obstacle to the Government proceeding with the provision of the kind of facilities that are required, but they have to be worked out carefully. Providing hostels on their own is not a solution.
"The Government is anxious that at a time when the economy is going so well and revenue to the State is so high we have a caring society which tackles the issue of homelessness, but it's not as simple as putting a roof over your head," he said.
Mr Molloy pointed out that homelessness often involved addressing issues such as drug and alcohol abuse as well as psychiatric problems.
He said the survey gave the Government an accurate read on the number of homeless people.
The Government would use the survey to help formulate an initiative, but he refused to be drawn on any target figure for reducing the number of homeless or how much funding he would be seeking from the Department of Finance.
Mr Molloy officially opened Cork Simon Community's settlement apartments for homeless people.
The eight units provide accommodation for 10 at the Simon 64-unit accommodation complex at Anderson's Quay.
The settlement apartments will receive £216,000 in funding over three years, 1999-2001. The entire complex has been funded to the extent of £1.664 million by the Department through Cork Corporation under the Voluntary Housing Capital Allowance.
The Cork Simon Community director, Ms Patricia McAllister, welcomed the settlement project, but said homelessness remained a serious problem in Cork, where last year the community had been forced to turn away 282 people.
"Last year 850 people contacted our emergency shelter, but that doesn't include the people we see on our soup run - between 30 and 50 - and it doesn't include the number of people we had to turn away.
"Last year we turned away 282, and in the first six months of this year we've turned away the same number," she said, adding that an increasing number of women, young people, and people with mental health problems were sleeping on the streets of Cork.