The Government has announced details of a 20-point action plan to tackle emergency and short-term homelessness, including the immediate provision of 260 additional emergency beds for people sleeping rough in Dublin.

The plan comes less than two weeks after the death of homeless man, Jonathan Corrie, who died while sleeping rough in a doorway just yards from the Dail.

His death sparked a major public debate about the issue of homelessness.

Meanwhile, according to the recent Dublin Region Homeless Executive Winter 2014 count, almost 170 people were sleeping rough on November 11 - the highest figure recorded since the official count began in 2007.

However, announcing this new plan, Environment Minister, Alan Kelly, said that the Government is committing €20 million ‘plus' in expenditure. Some of its main points include:

-260 additional emergency beds to be available before Christmas so that any person sleeping rough who wants to have a bed can avail of one
-The establishment of a Nite Café as a point of contact for homeless people who do not want to avail of emergency accommodation. It will provide food, showers and a rest area. An initial service will begin for a few hours each night from December 15, while a full service, which will accommodate 50 people at capacity, will commence in January
-A transport service is being provided with immediate effect for people sleeping rough. It will bring them to emergency accommodation and provide them with health and care supports.
-A hotel under the control of NAMA is to be purchased to provide accommodation and a single assessment centre for homeless families. It is hoped that this will be up and running by the end of April, 2015
-A ‘Stay In Your Home' campaign is to be put in place to raise awareness of tenants' rights and to ensure that those at risk of losing their tenancies are assisted to stay in their homes.

Meanwhile, the Minister is also issuing a direction to the four Dublin housing authorities to allocate half of all of their housing allocations to homeless households and other vulnerable groups for the next six months, having regard to the time spent by these households on the homeless and other housing lists as of December 1, 2014. This, he said, will provide homes for around 500 people.

Also speaking at the launch of the plan, Junior Minister, Paudie Coffey, said that the Government's long-term ambition ‘is that by the end of 2016, we will end the scourge of involuntary long-term homelessness'.