A huge increase in the number of social homes is urgently needed, according to Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan.
Deputy O’Callaghan, who is the party’s spokesperson on housing, said:
“There are now 235,659 people in need of social housing in Ireland, according to a report published today by the Parliamentary Budget Office. Shockingly, over 92,000 of these are children growing up without a secure and stable home.
“The report looked at the overall social housing need by combining the social housing waiting list with the number of people in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).
“Thirteen years of Fine Gael-led governments has left the country with a devastating social housing deficit and a deeply problematic reliance on the HAP system.
“The report estimates that we need to increase the number of social homes by a whopping 56 per cent just to meet the current deficit.
“The failure to deliver enough social homes is taking a substantial toll. There are 14,303 people in homeless emergency accommodation, 4,404 of them children. These are the highest figures in the history of the State and continue to rise month after month.
“There are a number of steps the Government could take to increase the delivery of social homes, such as scrapping the four-stage approval process and buying development land through compulsory purchase orders.
“The Government are constantly telling us that they are turning the corner and finally getting to grips with this crisis. In reality, they are failing miserably to live up to their own hype.
“The Minister for Housing needs to take the necessary action to ensure the delivery of social housing at a pace that reflects the scale of the housing emergency.”
August 19, 2024