Coveney asks Apollo House occupants to work with State

Minister for Housing Simon Coveney has appealed to homeless people in Apollo House to “work with us” to manage an orderly transition for them to properly fitted out hostel accommodation.

“People currently resident in Apollo House can make the transition from there with professionals looking after them whether it’s the Peter McVerry Trust, St Vincent de Paul, the Simon Community, Focus Ireland or whoever,” he said in the Seanad on Wednesday.

“I’m not going to get into judgment on the Apollo House campaign. I’m interested in getting the issue resolved before Christmas if we can do that.”

Speaking during debate on controversial housing and rental legislation, Mr Coveney said “we need to ensure that the transition doesn’t add to the stress those people already face. I would ask people in Apollo House to work with us”.

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Mr Coveney said he had met the chief executives of four key organisations working with homeless and they had agreed that by the end of the week “we should have enough beds in the system to deal with everybody who wants a bed.

“And we need to start working with people who are refusing beds who are on the streets at the moment to tray and get them into beds.”

He was responding to concerns raised by Independent Senator Lynn Ruane about the fate of the Apollo House eviction hearing before the High Court on Wednesday, where an estimated 30 homeless people are currently being accommodated in the occupied building.

The Minister said he had sanctioned €5 million for three hostel projects: “And if we need another one then we’ll get another one.”

He said €70 million had been allocated for homeless this year and €100 million next year with an additional €36 million from the Department of Health.

He said a hostel in Little Britain Street had been established with 45 beds, run by the DePaul Trust. There are 75 beds in the hostel in Ellis Quay run by the Peter McVerry Trust and the opening last week of Camden Hall, a hostel on Francis Street was delayed because of an injunction by local residents against the project. It is expected to open by Friday initially with 25 beds, moving within weeks to 51.

The Civil Defence will run another hostel with 20 beds on Wolfe Tone Quay if it is needed for overflow spaces.

The Minister acknowledged the political pressure for action and said the people in Apollo House had raised the profile of homelessness.

“There are a lot of good people involved in that campaign who want to see the right outcome as well as want to continue a campaign to put me under pressure to deliver faster,” he said.

“And that’s fine too. That’s politics. And it’s my job to lead a political response to resolving homelessness and I’m going to do that.

“Even the most critical of people of Government policy on homelessness would accept we have the most comprehensive strategy that we ever had in Ireland now. It’s all about implementing it and getting results for people.”

He said: “That is why in the last six weeks we have used emergency powers to put leases in places for three new hostels in Dublin. We have had construction teams working sometimes 24 hours kitting out those facilities.”