Government avoids condemning Apollo House occupation

The Government has refused to criticise the occupation of the Apollo House office block in Dublin by housing activists as it does not want to be in opposition to a move which has won much support among the public.

The issue of homelessness and the use of the Nama-controlled building as a facility for homeless people was discussed at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Following the meeting, the Government spokesman rejected a suggestion that the takeover was an indictment of policy and promises on homelessness.

While accepting the problem had not been “solved as quickly as we would like”, he said that a resolution was the Government’s main priority.

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Emerging from the recession, he added, there could be “no doubt the most difficult problem has been housing and homelessness. It is the top government priority. There is a dedicated Minister for Housing [Simon Coveney].”

While not censuring activists, the spokesman said the needs of homeless people were complex. In providing accommodation, issues such as severe addiction, safety and hygiene had to be taken into account, in addition to other medical and care services.

Capacity issue

He last night said the Government would provide 210 beds for homeless people in new hostels by the end of the week in an attempt to ensure nobody is sleeping rough on Dublin’s streets this Christmas.

The spokesman insisted that “capacity” was never an issue in terms of providing emergency accommodation.

Three different facilities will provide the beds, all of which will be fully operational by the end of the week. The Peter McVerry Trust will run a 70-bed hostel on Ellis Quay; DePaul Ireland will manage a 70-bed unit on Little Britain Street; while the third facility will be Carman’s Hall, jointly run by Dublin Simon and the Salvation Army. It will provide beds for 65 people.

The last survey of homeless people sleeping rough in Dublin was carried out on November 23rd. It identified 142 people, some 85 per cent of whom were male.

The Government has contended all three facilities were already at an advanced stage of preparation and were due to open this week, irrespective of what occurred at Apollo House. The matter was discussed at Cabinet on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, property developer Greg Kavanagh has said all properties left vacant for three years or more should be converted to homes for families and those living on the streets.

Mr Kavanagh, who up to recently was one of two businessmen behind New Generation Homes, has written to Mr Coveney, and a cross-section of TDs suggesting a range of solutions to homelessness.

Conversion of space

“Every retail, office or community space that has been vacant for three years should have the ability to be converted to residential space exempt from planning,” Mr Kavanagh’s letter states.

Owners should be given planning exemptions for the conversions, once they offer the properties first to homeless organisations and then to councils for social housing.

If the landlord were to impose “rip-off” rents, then they should lose the planning exemption, he argues.

“If the homeless organisations or the State housing authorities do not want the property, then it can be rented on the general market,” the letter says.

Several weeks ago the builder left New Generation Homes, which plans to build €2 billion worth of houses around Dublin, after almost 10 years running it with chief executive Pat Crean.

Since then he has been working voluntarily to help homeless people with the Peter McVerry Trust.

“My intention is in the new year to build some units for them,” he said on Tuesday.

Mr Kavanagh said that there was no reason for anyone to be homeless, as the number of vacant properties in many of the Republic’s towns and cities could absorb the demand for accommodation.

He pointed out that people were living on the street in his own home town, Arklow, Co Wicklow, while 70 shops are empty, as their customers now go to shopping malls on its outskirts.

“It would be better for the whole town if those empty units were occupied instead of having their shutters down,” he said, adding that they could easily be converted for the use of homeless people.