Sinn Féin demands action for 100,000 on housing list

More than 100,000 men, women and children were now on the State’s housing list, Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis told the Dáil last night.

There were 89,000 households waiting to be allocated a house, he said, with at least 5,000 people homeless in the State. “Between 30 and 40 new families become homeless every month in Dublin,’’ he added.

Mr Ellis said 158 people were found sleeping rough on Dublin streets last Wednesday night. "Shame on us.''

Mr Ellis was introducing a Sinn Féin private members’ motion demanding action on the homelessness problem. It calls for a range of measures, including an initial investment of €1 billion from the strategic investment fund to deliver at least 6,600 additional social housing units over the next two years.

It also calls on the Government to further prioritise local- authority construction as a method of providing homes for those needing them.

A Government amendment endorses its policy, including this year’s €647 million housing allocation supporting the delivery of more than 6,000 units.

Rent control essential

Mr Ellis said the introduction of rent controls was an essential measure to help stop the flow of people into homelessness and to make renting affordable for low-paid and unemployed people.

He said rents had increased in Dublin since 2011 by 26 per cent and by 10 per cent this year. “The quality of the accommodation has not improved in tandem,’’ he added.

Mr Ellis said that to condemn a child to deprivation or a family to homelessness was far more costly than to give them a home. A home was a right which should not be denied to people.

Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly said he fully acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, adding that it required a comprehensive response.

“In essence we are dealing with the legacy of a failed policy of relying on the private sector to deliver on social housing needs,’’ he said.