Sir, –The shocking report this week ("Focus Ireland calls for laws to ensure no child sleeps rough", August 12th) of parents and children sleeping on a park bench in Dublin and others sleeping in the Phoenix Park prompts the question of what, in the name of common decency, is the Government, but in particular the Department of the Environment, doing to deal with this extraordinary crisis? All the agencies working with the homeless crisis have been warning the Government of the seriousness of the problem.
Food and shelter are the most basic requirements of each citizen and are well within the capability of being supplied by a Government with an enormous budget at its disposal. It is simply a question of priority.
In order to focus the Government’s attention on this human tragedy, a weekly report containing the state of our national finances, alongside the number of citizens without a place to call a home, should be published so we can monitor what is being done. – Yours, etc,
EAMONN WALSH,
Dublin 12.