Plight of homeless stirs France before 2007 poll

PARIS, Dec 29 (Reuters) The French government promised to spend more money on shelters for the homeless, following pressure from an aid group that set up rows of tents in Paris to draw attention to people sleeping rough.

With temperatures falling and France's 2007 presidential election moving closer, the plight of the homeless has dominated front pages and politicians from all main parties have promised more help for those without a roof over their heads.

''Up till now, the emergency budget in France has been 1.05 billion euros,'' said Social Cohesion Minister Catherine Vautrin yesterday.

''The plan I'm announcing is adding an extra 70 million,'' Vautrin told France Inter radio. Homeless shelters would stay open round the clock at weekends and extend weekday opening by three hours a day.

Some 86,500 people are homeless in France, according to official figures from 2001.

Aid groups say more than 3 million people have serious housing problems -- living on the street, in shabby hotels, caravans or in flats without bathrooms or heating.

Lobby group ''The Children of Don Quixote'' initiated the current debate when it set up dozens of red tents along Paris's Canal Saint Martin earlier this month, calling on Parisians to sleep out in the cold in solidarity.

The group wants authorities to open shelters 24 hours a day throughout the year and to build more social housing.

''We are looking for a political consensus for urgent and strong decisions,'' said organiser Jean-Baptiste Legrand.

Francois Hollande, the leader of the opposition Socialists, said he supported many of the association's demands.

The Socialists' presidential frontrunner Segolene Royal has not made concrete promises on the issue, but said: ''My priority is the fight against a high cost of living and economic insecurity.'' Her likely conservative presidential challenger, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, has vowed that no homeless person would have to sleep outside within two years of his taking office.

Surveys show Sarkozy and Royal equally matched ahead of the two-round election in April and May next year.

Reuters SB GC0851