Last census revealed 13.5% of inner city Dublinhousing stock is vacant
Tuesday 20 May 2014, Dublin.
The Green Party is today calling for the government to cutup the red tape blocking housing initiatives, rather than set up yet anotherorganisation to tackle what is now a 'housing emergency'.
Speaking today, the Green Party's local election candidatefor Dublin's north inner city, Ciarán Cuffe, stated: "The last thing we needare more reports and organisations. We already have two State bodies dealingwith this issue: the Housing Agency, and Housing and Sustainable CommunitiesLtd. Do we really need a third? In the Dublin area we have the DublinRegion Homeless Executive and the Dublin Joint Homelessness Consultative Forum,as well as the four local authorities.
"In recent days the Labour Party have proposed the use ofold Garda Barracks for dealing with people who are homelessness. Do thisgovernment really know what they are doing? Are they serious in proposing yetanother agency to tackle the issue?
"We need action. Finance is needed to build homes in theright places, and new laws are required to reduce vacancy rates and increasesupply.
"Almost 100,000 people are on housing lists and yet, inDublin's inner city alone, over 10,000 homes were recorded as vacant in thelast Census.* This represented over 13.5% of the housing stock in that area.This is a dysfunctional system that requires action by government. Existingmeasures have failed to secure the increase in supply that is required.
"In the short-term, an increase in the level of rentsupplement is needed to stop families falling into homelessness. More fundingis also required for Councils and Housing Bodies to allow empty buildings to berefurbished and made available. If this requires monies from Europe, then thegovernment must act now and seek the necessary funding.
"The government must also legislate to ensure that a portionof pension funds, particularly the funds under State control, are used toprovide housing for those who cannot afford to house themselves. This is thenorm in other European countries.
"A Site Value Tax is also needed to bring about the best useof vacant and under-used land and buildings. This measure has been promoted bythe Green Party in the past: the time for implementation is long overdue.
"There are people sleeping rough outside the railings of theCustoms House. Surely Ministers Phil Hogan and Jan O'Sullivan can look outtheir windows and act on the crisis that is literally on their doorstep."
ENDS
Notes for editors:
*2011 Census http://census.cso.ie/sapmap/- accessed 20th May 2014. There were 74,807 housing units recordedin Dublin's inner city and 10,118 were recorded as vacant, representing 13.53%of housing units.
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