PLANS to house hundreds of homeless people on a cruise ship in Dublin are being considered.

Dublin City Council is discussing the idea of hiring a private cruise ship which could house 100-150 homeless people.

3 Dublin City Council is reconsidering a plan to rent a private cruise ship to house the homeless Credit: Alamy

The cost of hiring a 200-person cruise ship is around €435,000 (£397,000) a week, which works out as over €2,000 per person for the Irish government.

The idea had been proposed previously before being shelved but due to the severity of the housing crisis in Dublin, the City Council has agreed to revisit it.

There are 1,367 families in homeless accommodation in Dublin and this figure is increasing year on year.

Eoghan Murphy, the Irish minister for Housing, set a target to house 300 homeless families but was told by the council it was "unlikely to be achieved" unless they considered previously rejected strategies.

3 There are currently 1,367 families in homeless accommodation in Dublin Credit: Alamy

After having said it "would not be suitable" in the past, the council will now reconsider the cruise ship idea as a possible way to meet housing targets.

The Irish government has recently dedicated €60 million to housing the homeless in emergency accommodation, much of this may now have to be spent on renting the private cruise ship.

It had been pitched as a way to house single homeless men according to head of housing services at the City Council, Brendan Kenny.

3 12,000 people protested the housing crisis in Dublin on Wednesday night Credit: Stone - Getty

Thousands gather at Irish parliament to protest growing housing shortage

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He told The Irish Times the plan "never really got legs" but "it is something we are not ruling out".

12,000 people took to the streets of Dublin to protest the housing crisis on Wednesday, calling the campaign #RaiseTheRoof.

While Housing Minister Murphy stressed on Wednesday night that emergency housing would be put in place, he later tweeted saying the cruise ship plan is not suitable for families sleeping rough.

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