Landlords are earning even more from providing bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless people in Dublin than original estimates suggested, it has emerged.
A draft report for the Homeless Agency, details of which were published by The Irish Times last month, suggested landlords were paid €18 million for providing such accommodation last year.
However, Dublin City Council has now said it paid more than €19.5 million to B&B owners in 2002 to house homeless people. It released the information under the Freedom of Information Act.
But the council refused to release the names and addresses of the B&Bs, their owners or the amounts each were paid. This information was requested after the draft report for the Homeless Agency said landlords were earning "super-normal profits" for providing the service. It said one landlord grossed an estimated €1.4 million last year.
The city council, in refusing to release the information, said amounts paid to landlords were negotiated on a property-by-property basis with the objective of obtaining best value for money. "A disclosure of such information could prejudice Dublin City Council's negotiating position and result in financial loss," it said.
"The information provided by the property owner/landlord is accepted in confidence and disclosure of such information would be a breach of that confidence."
Furthermore, the council said, it was policy not to release the names and addresses of the B&Bs to protect and ensure confidentiality for those using the service.
"The types of clients who would require such confidentiality are persons leaving a domestic abuse or sexual abuse environment, who may end up living in homeless accommodation."