There are 165 vacant council units in the county boundaries of Galway, a situation that has led one general election candidate to declare that with "thousands of people on housing waiting lists", the situation is now at "emergency levels".
This is the view of Sinn Féin Galway East General Election candidate Annemarie Roche, who was speaking at a public meeting in Loughrea recently. She pointed out that in Loughrea alone, as of last February, 42 council units were vacant.
Ms Roche however is not laying the blame at the feet of the Galway County Council, saying the responsibility for the situation "stops with the Government".
"The inaction by Government on this issue is astonishing," she said. "The approach has been to stick its head in the sand and even deny the scale of the crisis. I have been visiting houses across Galway East over the past few weeks and can say with confidence there are a countless families that would be delighted to take one of these units. It is now likely that these units will remain idle throughout the winter months. This is unacceptable."
A Sinn Féin Private Members Business motion on the housing crisis was debated in the Dáil. It included calls for a review of the planning and development act to allow for more social housing; increased funding from central government in order to commence a long term plan for social housing expansion; and to provide legislative framework to allow local authorities to access off-balance sheet housing agency loans to facilitate such expansions.
"People are crying out for real solutions," said Ms Roche. "Our private members motion shows a different approach is possible."
