Cathal BarryA leading homelessness charity has criticised as “inadequate” the Government’s aim to have just 22 of the planned 500 modular homes on stream by Christmas.
A spokesperson for the Peter McVerry Trust told The Irish Catholic that “it is quite disappointing”.
“There are question marks around how quickly they are going to be rolled out. It is quite disappointing. It is really inadequate,” he said.
The Government has approved plans to deliver 500 prefabricated housing units for homeless families across Dublin.
Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly said at least 22 families will be housed in these modular homes by Christmas.
He said he hopes a further 128 units will be available by February through a fast-tracked procurement.
Mr Kelly said “the aim is to have an initial 22 units in place by December with a further 128 units to follow through a fast-tracked procurement”.
The Peter McVerry Trust, however, has insisted that the process is not happening quickly enough.
“The core benefit of modular housing is how quick they can be put on site and have people move into them but it sort of defeats the purpose that it is taking months and months to get political sign off and funding to get these units in place,” a spokesperson for the charity told this newspaper.
“The key to the homelessness crisis is providing housing and the quickest way we can do that is to provide modular housing. We don’t really see any justification in the delay,” he said.
The spokesperson also confirmed that charities in the sector are preparing for the homelessness crisis to get worse ahead of Christmas.
“We don’t see any reduction or let up in the numbers of people becoming homeless in the coming months,” he said.