News

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD today blasted the government for abandoning renters as the latest Daft.ie figures show that the number of homes available to rent has reached its lowest level since 2006. “Instead of getting on with building affordable homes, the Fine Gael government continues to pretend that the market can solve this […]

Social Democrats Political Director and Local Election candidate for Lucan, Anne-Marie McNally has welcomed the final Dáil stage of the Residential Tenancies Bill which incorporates the key provisions of the Social Democrats’ Bill of the same name. The reality is that the private rental sector is now a significant housing option – either by choice […]

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has said there is an urgent need for an agreed definition of what constitutes homelessness so that the current confusion and spin over the March homelessness figures is brought to an end. Deputy Murphy said: “It is a total insult to families living in different types of temporary and […]

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD today called on the government to get to grips with the chronic shortage of affordable homes and ensure that state land is used to provide both social and affordable housing. Deputy Murphy made her comments as RTÉ reported that a government scheme to incentivise the construction of affordable homes […]

Social Democrats Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan said: “The report of the National Oversight and Audit Committee showing key performance indicators for local government in 2016 states that Social Housing Stock figures provided by local authorities could not be published due to errors and inconsistencies with data supplied. It is incredible to think that our local government […]

Social Democrats Co-Leader Catherine Murphy has said it is completely unacceptable that the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, is unable to provide accurate figures regarding the amount of housing units built last year. She said that despite this lack of knowledge the Minister was irresponsibly making unfounded claims about Government exceeding its targets. Catherine Murphy […]

Special measures are needed to help young couples with children who bought apartments during the boom and now find themselves ‘stuck’ in unsuitable accommodation and unable to purchase family-sized homes, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said today. Deputy Murphy said: “People, including many young couples, who bought small apartments during the boom, are now […]

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has described Budget 2018 as a Budget of squandered opportunities in so many ways but in particular on addressing the housing emergency. She said there are lots of carrots but very few sticks, for example the Vacant Land Levy announced is still less than land price inflation. Deputy Murphy […]

Catherine Murphy TD, Social Democrats Co-Leader, has drawn attention to a PQ reply which details funding provided to homeless services on a regional basis which, she says, gives further meaning to some of the harrowing stories emanating from areas outside the Dublin region such as the ones highlighted on Morning Ireland yesterday. The reply received […]

The government’s inability to accurately count the number of new houses built each year is masking the true scale of the housing shortage, the Social Democrats said today. The party’s co-leader Catherine Murphy TD was commenting on a Goodbody BER housebuilding tracker published today, which shows that 5,377 houses were completed in 2016. This compares […]