Cork Simon Community has urged the Government not to forget the issue of homelessness.
The organisation recently had to turn people away from its emergency shelter on some of the worst nights of the winter so far.
The agency's director in Cork, Colette Kelleher, said Cork City Council and the Health Service Executive South had been very supportive in the past year but she expressed concern about whether there was the same commitment in Government to tackling the issue. "The issue of homeless was certainly given some priority over the last five years but we're just concerned that it has slipped down the list of priorities. You can see that from this year's Budget - the government must show commitment to maintain the momentum," she said.
The need for the government to maintain its commitment to tackling homelessness is made all the more urgent by the increasing numbers of people using Simon's services in Cork in the past year, particularly in the past few months when the weather has turned quite severe.
According to Ms Kelleher, Cork Simon turned away some 30 people in August because the emergency shelter was full. This increased to 50 in September and to 67 in October.
Between August and October, the numbers turned away rose by 123 per cent. On the particularly bad night of November 30th, 46 people were turned away because there were no beds.
Ms Kelleher said 2006 had also seen a significant rise in mortality rates among people availing of Simon services and projects in Cork. Eighteen people - 12 men and six women - died between January and November.
"Some would have been suicides and some would have been from illnesses related to living on the streets. The youngest person to die was 18 and the oldest was 65, and that's five more deaths than in all of 2005 and double the number who died in 2004."
Cork Simon experienced unprecedented need for its services this year. "The day centre supported 544 people in the first half of 2006 - that's up from 447 for all of 2005 and up from over 200 in 2004. On average we have 80 people a day accessing the services of the day centre compared to 71 in 2005 and 47 in 2004," said Ms Kelleher.
This week Cork Simon, with support from St Vincent de Paul and assistance of property developers Frinailla Developments, opened a temporary cold-weather shelter in the city centre.
"In previous years, the cold weather shelter ensured no one had to sleep rough over the Christmas/New Year period. Given our recent experience of the level of need for emergency accommodation, those extra beds will not be enough to meet the existing needs of all people seeking shelter with us."