Father Peter McVerry, who for 20 years has been working for homeless children in Dublin, has said the £130,000 his three hostels receive from the National Lottery is equal to the cost of maintaining the Government jet for two weeks.
At the church of St George and St Thomas at Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin, yesterday, Father McVerry estimated that 400 children under 18 slept on Dublin's streets, while just eight places in the city were reserved for emergencies.
He acknowledged the Government was creating 48 places for homeless children, but said the problem was growing far faster than the services to deal with it. Those services were particularly bad in the suburbs.
