Homeless people have been sleeping in the reception areas of Garda stations in Westmeath because of a chronic shortage of emergency accommodation in the county.
A report by the Westmeath Homeless Forum states that a "growing number of persons are presenting themselves as emergency cases in need of urgent accommodation".
Without hostel facilities in the county, the authorities are relying increasingly on bed and breakfasts to house them.
The report and accompanying action plan is the first major statement from the Forum which was set up a year ago with representatives of the county council, Midland Health Board, voluntary and community groups, the gardaí and probation and welfare services on board.
It has difficulty putting an exact figure on the number of homeless in the county but says the extent of the problem can be gauged from the experiences of a variety of local bodies.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul, for example, reports that in 2000 it assisted 50-55 "knights of the road", as they term men of no fixed address.
The Forum calculates there are not more than 10 people sleeping rough but knows of four or five people with mental illness who are homeless during periods when they are not in-patients in hospital, and an unspecified number of drug and alcohol abusers and prisoners who have nowhere to go when released from institutions.
The Athlone Streetwise Housing Association houses up to 10 homeless young people at any one time and up to 50 in an average year. It says that at times it is forced to turn people away.
The Esker Women's Refuge Centre sheltered 442 women and children over the three year period to the end of 2000.
Gardaí at Mullingar and Athlone allow up to 10 people a year to sleep in the stations because they have nowhere else to go.
Less visible forms of homelessness are no less worrying to the Forum. Some 169 adults and children were placed in bed and breakfasts in the three years to the end of 2000 and 791 received deposits from the council for private rented accommodation, while the Midland Health Board had 723 Westmeath households in receipt of rent allowance in December 2000.
These people "could conceivably be rendered homeless if the assistance afforded to them was not available".
In addition, there is a "large number" of people living with relatives who could "very easily be rendered homeless due to unforeseen family crisis, etc".
The recruitment of a dedicated social worker to liaise with homeless people and the various support services, as recommended in the Forum action plan, is already underway.
The St Vincent de Paul is also working on the provision of eight units of accommodation for homeless adults and the Forum's recommendation that funds be made available to other groups working on similar projects was unanimously agreed at this week's county council meeting.
Mr George Lambden, Director of Services at the council, who also chairs the Forum, admitted, however that "it will be difficult to implement these plans because it's a question of getting suitable sites".
Westmeath County Council is attempting to ease some of the financial burdens of home-ownership by building 123 homes under affordable schemes in the next two years. A sign of the times, however, is that "affordable" means a discounted price of just over €100,000.