Screenshots from RTÉ’s Nine News last night showing emergency accommodation for 20 homeless people being set up in the Civil Defence headquarters at the Esplanade, Wolfe Tone Quay, Dublin 7.

Cathal Morgan, the director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, told RTÉ:

“Tomorrow [Friday, December 12], our colleagues in the Civil Defence will be opening up 20 beds. That means 70 beds out of the 260 promised will be in place. By the 23rd of December, we will have those 260 beds in place.”

According to a report on the Civil Defence website, the beds will “be made available only by reference from the [Dublin] City Council’s freephone helpline service” and they’ll be in operation until March 2015.

Last week – after the Government announced it would provide extra beds – homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry told RTÉ News:

“I would have a question about the quality of the beds. Currently much of the emergency accommodation is dormitory style and if the new 200 beds are going to continue to be dormitory style then you’re going to have a lot of homeless people who will just refuse to go into them because they feel they are too dangerous and they will continue to sleep on the streets.”

Fr McVerry also said he hoped rough sleepers would be given a bed for a week or a month at a time, instead of the present situation whereby homeless people have to ring a freephone number every evening to see if there is a bed available.

There you go now.

Watch last night’s RTÉ report in full here.

Taoiseach and mayor meet homeless people in Dublin (December 5, 2014, RTÉ)

Previously: Help Is On Its Way

The Bed Summit