There are claims that vacant hotels in Dublin City could help tackle the housing crisis.
This news comes as homeless services couldn't place people in temporary accommodation after maxing out their credit card. Read more on this story here.
Now, TD Ruth Coppinger from the Anti-Austerity Alliance says this story, while "obscene", is just the latest crisis facing homeless services:
"This story shows the further escalation in pressure on homeless services across the city. It follows from news last month that the homeless services run by Dublin City Council had an €18 million blackhole in its budget. So rather than the story being about a 'maxed out' credit card, it is a continuation of the massive pressure that homeless services are under."
She says that increasing credit card limits won't "solve the problem". Instead NAMA should use their vacant hotels to house the growing homeless population:
"The scandal here isn't that the service had run out of money - it's that the family were relying on the service in the first place."
In an attempt to reduce the number of families sleeping on our streets, the Anti-Austerity Alliance is advising people to tell their landlords they cannot leave their homes:
"I am advising people given notices vacate to tell their landlords they cannot leave and make themselves homeless. People must stay in their homes as it's clear the councils and state can't cope."
