Dublin City Council is considering using a section of the Mountjoy prison campus to help deal with the capital's homeless problem. The Department of Justice has offered the training unit of Dublin's largest prison to the local authority, which is now considering it to house homeless people. The training unit is separated from the main section of the jail and was closed earlier this year.
At the time of its closure the unit had a capacity of 96 beds. Independent councillor Mannix Flynn said the council was considering using the facility to alleviate the city's current homelessness crisis. [...] The latest figures show there are 8,500 people without a home, 3,500 of whom are children, but there are fears the number could increase as the country heads into Christmas week, as the figures were compiled in October.