Ireland
UK
Scotland
London
The Government has been accused of "directly contributing" to the housing crisis in Ireland.
Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Dessie Ellis TD said not enough has been done to deliver social housing or help renters.
He said: "Delivering housing for this government is slang for more subsidisation of the private market without any real increase in the social housing stock. The fact is that this government has built less social housing in its lifetime than most governments before built in a single year. The fact in between January and September 2015 local authorities built just 28 social housing units. They couldn't build housing because this government has starved them of funding for five years, while lumping a property tax on any social housing they have already and a site tax on any land they could build on if they ever got the money.
"Housing and those in need of housing are quite clearly not a priority for this government and claims that they will be in a month or a year are utter nonsense. The priority for this government in housing is lining the pockets of developers and protecting the precious market from any interference which would require it to function in a way which met the needs of the public.
"Sinn Fein have tabled an amendment to the motion to include a number of other points which we feel are essential for tackling the crisis as it stands. These include measures to address unaffordable rents. The government failed miserably last year to do this, introducing a pathetic delay in rent reviews which resulted in most renters getting exorbitant increases in November and early December.
"Regulating rent would allow for an increase in rent supplement which would not result in higher rents. Labour have the shameful record of having cut rent supplement not once but twice in this government and that has actually put families out on the street.
"If the state continues to subsidise the private market without regulating it, if the State continues to deny responsibility to build housing, if it continues to treat rent supplement recipients at risk of losing their home as an exception rather than the rule then we will get nowhere."
(CD/LM)
