Lack of affordable housing compounding housing crisis in Wicklow –John Brady TD

Speaking following a Sinn Féin’s Private Members’ Motion on Housing, John Brady TD criticised the lack of action from the government over the past seven years in solving the ongoing housing emergency.

During the motion in the Dáil this week, Teachta Brady also criticised Fianna Fáil for voting against Sinn Féin’s motion, which outlined measures that would have delivered nearly 15,000 genuinely affordable homes over two years.

Teachta Brady said:

“Fine Gael has been in power for seven years, and they have thus far point blank refused to roll out a state-wide, properly funded social housing building programme.

“We have a crisis in the private rental sector. There aren’t enough properties for rent, and those that exist are prohibitively expensive for most people.

“These issues are further compounded by the fact that there is no evidence that this government has made any effort to realistically put forward an affordable housing programme that will make it possible for people on low wages to purchase their own home.

“In Wicklow house prices rose by four per cent in the final three months of 2016. The average price of a house now in the Garden County is €313,886, up 10.7% on the previous 12 months.

“Their bedfellows in government, Fianna Fáil, chose this week to vote against our motion. Fianna Fáil has claimed that it wants to see affordable housing delivered, yet when the opportunity comes to put pressure on the government to provide better, more sustainable housing solutions, they baulk.

“They voted against committing to the immediate introduction of ambitious, affordable rental and purchase housing schemes led by Local Authorities, and where appropriate, Approved Housing Bodies and Housing Co-operatives.

“They voted against amending Part V of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, to provide for 10% affordable housing in addition to the existing 10% social housing requirement.

“This is why we have a housing crisis in this country, and this is why it isn’t being solved. Lack of political will from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is the root cause of the crisis. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.”