'These figures are an outrage' says Louth councillor

“These figures are an outrage", said Cllr Ruairí O Murchú in response to the latest homeless figures for Louth released last week.

The Dundalk Democrat spoke to local representatives, Declan Breathnach TD, Cllr Ruairí O Murchú and Cllr Emma Coffey, who were all scathing of the Government's response to the housing crisis in Louth and nationwide.

Figures released last week by the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government, show that 156 homeless adults accessed local authority managed emergency accommodation in Louth during the week of 21 – 27 January 2019, an increase of over 25% in one month.

^{Declan Breathnach TD}

“Homelessness has reached unprecedented levels, surging rents are at historic heights, home building numbers are tens of thousands behind where they need to be and over 130,000 people in need of a permanent social home”, says Fianna Fáil TD Declan Breathnach.

^{Cllr Ruairi O Murchú}

“January’s homelessness statistics are further proof, if such were needed, that the Minister for Housing, and the government’s housing strategy, is a failure”, says Sinn Féin councillor Ruairí Ó Murchú in response to the increase.

^{Cllr Emma Coffey}

Fianna Fáil cllr Emma Coffey says, “this Government has failed in every single target it has set in its housing policy but in particular the homeless crisis. Homelessness is the sharpest edge people have to suffer, but every single element of housing policy is in crisis.”

Cllr Ruairi Ó Murchú, said that “these figures are an outrage. Under Minister Murphy’s watch the number of citizens who suffering homelessness has increased by a massive 26%.

“The Minister is failing and he should resign. The Government must scrap Rebuilding Ireland and put in place a real plan to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis.”

According to Deputy Breathnach, in Louth, there are over 1,746 people on the social housing waiting list with a further 2,644 on HAP who are also awaiting a social housing allocation.  “This makes a total of 4,390 waiting on social housing in Louth”, said Deputy Breathnach.

In terms of social housing provision, it was announced last Friday that in a planned 1100 home development in Dundoogan, Haynestown, 112 of the homes has been acquired by Tuath Housing for social housing, in collaboration with the Department of Housing, Louth County Council and developer, Cannon Kirk Ltd.

Cllr Ó Murchú said that although he welcomes the construction of 1100 homes at Haynestown, “the scale of homelessness and housing need in Louth demands a much greater government response.”

Also referring to the 112 homes acquired by Tuath in Dundoogan, Cllr Coffey said, “actually only 12 units will be completed in 2 to 3 weeks with the remainder being completed by may 2020. So in fact in all likelihood the housing list will have increased by the time all of these 112 units have families housed in them.”

Deputy Breathnach, moving onto the wider housing issue, said that “Ireland is in the midst of a national housing emergency that threatens home ownership levels for an entire generation locked into unsustainable rent levels.”

He added: “Dundalk is nearly as bad as Dublin with rising rents.  With the HAP scheme the problem is that a lot of landlords will not accept tenants on HAP which is very unfair as most of those on HAP are decent people who are working but just can’t afford to even contemplate trying to buy a house.”

Cllr Coffey, summing up the current housing policy said: “whether it's young people trying to find a decent place to rent at an affordable price, a new family looking for a home they can afford, or older people trying to move to a more suitable house, Ireland's housing policy is falling way short.”