FIFTEEN HOTELS IN Dublin each received payments in excess of €1 million last year to provide emergency accommodation for the homeless.

Two of the hotels received payments between €3m and €4m according to new figures provided by the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) which confirmed that the spend on providing temporary and emergency accommodation for the homeless soared by 15.5% to €143 million in 2018.

Dublin City Council is budgeting to spend €154.42m on homeless services this year.

In the three years of 2016, 2017 and 2018 hoteliers have received cumulative payments totalling €137m as the number of homeless requiring emergency accommodation soared.

Last year, hotels received payments from the DRHE totalling €51.1m to provide emergency accommodation and this represented an increase of 9% on the €46.93m paid out in 2017 and an increase of 31% on the €38.94m paid out in 2016.

A breakdown of the €143.3m spend on providing emergency accommodation for the homeless shows that €65.25m was paid out in private emergency accommodation made up of payments to hotels and B&Bs.

Of the €143m spend, €125.88m was paid to third parties.

Along with the €65.25m paid to hotels and B&Bs, an additional €60.62m was paid to Non-Government Organisations for supported temporary accommodation including family hubs.

The breakdown shows that an additional €17.4m was spent on ‘other’ by the DRHE on providing emergency accommodation for the homeless in 2018.

The 15 hotels to receive in excess of €1 million last year compared to 13 hotels receiving payments in excess of €1m in 2017.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the DRHE confirmed that two hotel operators last year received payments between €3 million and €4 million to accommodate the homeless.

A further four hotels received payments between €2m and €3m with an additional nine hotel receiving payments between €1m and €2m.

In total, 70 hotels provided emergency accommodation for the homeless in 2018.

The sharp increase in payments to emergency accommodation providers came against the background of further increases in the numbers homeless in Dublin in 2018.

The numbers of homeless increased by 5% from 2,490 made up of 1,488 children and 1,002 adults in January 2018 to 2,621 in December made up of 1,594 children and 1,027 adults.

The DRHE declined to name the hotels and B&Bs that have received payment.

The FOI unit stated:

I am satisfied that the financial and commercial interest of the emergency accommodation providers would be negatively impacted by the released of this information.

The FOI unit also states that it was satisfied that the release of this information would have a significant adverse impact on the management of the DRHE.