05/11/2015

Call For Govt To Develop Alternative Housing System

Sinn Fein Senator Kathryn Reilly is supporting a call for the Irish Government to develop a housing system which is not reliant on the private for profit sector.

Senator Reilly said policy on housing has resulted in a "deepening and worsening" crisis over the last four years, with a "chronic lack" of social and 'affordable' homes.

"The government has built only a fraction of the social housing needed," Senator Reilly said.

"It has refused to tackle rising rents or rent uncertainty. That amounts to the current housing crisis being government policy.

"Across the state there are one hundred and thirty thousand people on the social housing waiting list. This is an increase of forty thousand from four years ago. The housing crisis is by no means confined to Dublin.

"It will be forever to the shame of the Seanad and Dáil that this Oireachtas removed the legal protection preventing so many family homes from being taken by the banks.

"It is always worth reminding ourselves that the commercial loans and not the mortgage sector loans were the most toxic of the loan books at Irish banks. An assessment of Anglo Irish's mortgage loan book reveals how small it was in comparison to its commercial loan book.

"It is high time the government changed its housing policy and initiate an immediate programme of responsibly planned building of social housing across this state, implement rent controls and seriously review of bank repossessions."

(LM)

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