Fianna Fáil and Independent TDs must decide if they are "on the side of Fine Gael and private developers", or on the side of the homeless, tenants, and "those struggling to find an affordable home".
This is the view of Sinn Féin city councillor Mairéad Farrell, who said TDs must make a choice between the market and the needs of the people, when it comes to housing policy.
Cllr Farrell accused Fine Gael of advancing housing policies that are "not only failing to tackle the housing crisis", but which are "actually making things worse". She said that in Eoghan Murphy's 15 months to date as Housing Minister, homelessness has increased 25 per cent; child homelessness has increased 34 per cent; and pensioner homelessness has increased by 40 per cent; while rents and house prices continue to "rise well beyond affordable levels".
She pointed out that "thousands of homes" lie vacant across the state, while real social housing output in 2018 will be lower than in 2017. She added that "not a single affordable home" has been delivered by any Government scheme on Minister Murphy's watch.
“The true test of a minister is that, when Government policy is not working, they have the courage to go to cabinet and propose a change of course. Instead, Minister Murphy continues to defend the indefensible. He is so out of touch and out of his depth that he doesn’t even realise that what he is doing is making the crisis worse."
