A motion calling on the Government to act on a motion which received cross-party support in the Daíl in October was passed at the recent Council meeting in South Dublin. People Before Profit councillor Madeleine Johansson proposed the motion which calls on the Government to declare a housing and homeless emergency, prioritise public and affordable housing on public land and establish a legal right to housing. The Daíl motion has not yet been acted upon by the Minister for Housing who continue to claim that Rebuilding Ireland is working while homelessness continue to increase. A similar motion was also passed by Cork City Council and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on the same day.
Cllr Johansson commented: “It was reported recently that South Dublin met its Rebuilding Ireland social housing targets for 2018, however this is not in any way a measure of success. We are continuing to see an increase in rents across the county which have become completely unaffordable for the vast majority of people. We have 10 000 homeless people in Ireland, including over 3000 children who are living in deplorable conditions in emergency accommodation.”
“Rebuilding Ireland is not working. In 2018 only 26 home loans were drawn down in South Dublin through the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme, which was heralded by the Minister as the new affordable housing scheme for families who can’t go on the social housing waiting list. Rebuilding Ireland needs to be scrapped and a new emergency plan produced by the Government to end this crisis.”
