Homelessness could be ended once and for all as a fitting legacy of Ireland's economic success, a conference has been told.
Mr Conor Hickey, federation director of the six Simon Communities in Ireland, said that "we are now poised to make a real breakthrough in the fight to end homelessness".
State spending had increased substantially in the last three years, but many projects still relied on fundraising for a substantial proportion of their running costs.
At the Simon National Conference in Dublin, Mr Hickey said that if the annual bonus on the Special Savings Incentive Accounts was reduced from 25 per cent to 24 per cent from now until the end of the scheme, €21 million more would be available to the Exchequer and could be used to end homelessness.
Other measures included abolishing tax relief on private hospitals and sports-injury clinics, which would save €20 million, and €10 million would be saved by abolishing tax relief on multi-story car parks.
Mr Hickey said that the "economic boom is not over. In fact the economy continues to do extremely well.
The underspend by the Western Health Board was €15 million in 2003 while they insisted there were insufficient funds to meet their commitments to homeless services - it brings the question of appropriate allocation of resources sharply into focus."
Mr Hickey said US research showed the cost of housing homeless people with severe mental disabilities in shelters, hospitals and prison falls sharply if they are placed in supported housing.
"Here the average cost of a psychiatric hospital placement is €123,000 per annum. Simon-run high-support accommodation costs vary from approximately €40,000 per person per year for very high-support housing, to as little as €8,000 per year for low-support."
Earlier the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Noel Ahern, pointed to the level of funding increase, from €12.5 million in 1999 to €50 million last year, for accommodation. The Department of Health had spent €21 million over the past two years to tackle homelessness, he noted.
Mr Ahern, who has responsibility for housing, said that cynics might think an opportunity "is never lost to trumpet any increase in funding, but without adequate funding, all strategies would remain aspirational and meaningless".
The Government is undertaking a review of its homelessness strategy, and it was essential funds were used wisely to avoid duplication, he said.
Ms Noeleen Hartigan, Simon's director of social policy and research co-ordination, said that an additional €20 million would make a real impact on the housing action plans for local authorities. There are currently an estimated 5,800 people homeless, of whom 1,400 are children.
She said that "very real progress made in the last three years is at risk of being lost if Government do not deliver on their original commitments".
