Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing and the Environment, Deputy Barry Cowen, is calling for a national building programme to be established in which all primary stakeholders, including the Department, Local Authorities and Voluntary/Cooperative housing bodies are given the resources and mandate to fast-track social home construction.
He said: "Social home construction cannot be used as a political football by the next government.
"While this government has repeatedly announced that large allocations are available for the construction and acquisition of social homes, for all intents and purposes this funding has not been forthcoming. As those on the ground know, the Department have just not been approving social housing projects.
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"Modular housing was sold as a silver bullet solution to the short-term needs of homeless families, but as it has turned out not only are these units vastly more expensive to provide than permanent constructions and acquisitions, they are not any quicker to build.
"While there are still over 3,000 social housing units under the control of local authorities sitting vacant nationwide, the Minister has refused to spend more than €30,000 on the refurbishment for these homes. This cap on refurbishment has to be removed immediately and these homes used to house homeless families by the end of the year.
"Most importantly, to prevent the crisis getting any worse families have to be kept in their homes at present, by raising Rent Supplement and putting a stay on repossessions."
(CD)
