More than £300,000 has been raised for the Simon Community this year through a scheme that involves companies giving the money they would normally spend on Christmas cards to the voluntary organisation for the homeless.
Christmas greetings will be sent through full page advertisements in The Irish Times instead of the companies sending cards. The newspaper has given over the pages to the Simon Community.
So far this year more than 150 companies have taken part, raising £310,000 for the charity. Last year £170,000 was raised. Simon's appeal to other companies who still wish to take part is: "Don't send Christmas cards, send hope to the homeless".
The money raised is divided between Simon shelters in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Dundalk. In the main it goes towards emergency outreach work at Christmas - at least 250 people sleep rough in Dublin city centre every night.
"We would ensure everybody who is on the streets gets what they need in terms of food and clothes," Ms O'Connell said.
Some of the funds will also be set aside for investment in resettlement services for homeless persons in 2002.
Speaking at the third annual Simon House of Cards appeal, the Simon Community's fundraising manager in Dublin, Ms Caroline O'Connell said shelters provided by Simon in the State were being used as "unofficial asylums" for the mentally ill.
She said there were up to 5,000 homeless persons in the State, many of them suffering from mental illness for whom there were no services.
"These are people who have been let down by the system. At this stage the voluntary agencies are picking up that gap in statutory supports for these people." A quarter of the 813 people who used Simon's Dublin shelter last year had serious mental health problems. They were on the streets because there were not enough dedicated health services for them, she said.