Housing spokesperson, Jan O'Sullivan TD, made the statement following a debate on housing motions proposed by Labour Party members across the country.
She said: "With 200,000 empty homes around the country, that's 27 empty homes for every person in emergency accommodation, the promised Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy hasn't yet got off the ground.
"Even in the worst of economic times, Labour provided the funding to bring 5,000 empty Council homes back into use. Unused houses should be the first, easiest win.
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"But we need construction too. One of the first Bills the Labour Party put before the current Dáil proposed to implement the Kenny Report to make land available to Local Authorities at reasonable prices to stop land-hoarding. As demand exceeds supply, developers sit on land, in order to make more money, while prices go up and more and more people are stuck paying spiralling rents.
"That's why we also proposed in that Bill to link rent increases to the Consumer Price Index and to strengthen security of tenure as proposed in the motion from the Jack Fitzgerald branch.
"The proposals made in this section are all based on Labour's core belief in the right to a secure home.
"I support the motion to establish a Housing Policy Working Group, as proposed this morning.
"We will hold a Housing seminar in Dublin later this month, and have public meetings planned for Cork and Limerick, and other parts of the country. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience on solutions that work, not least from those with years of service on Local Authorities."
(CD/MH)
