Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has called on the Government to do more to address the housing crisis in Ireland which is continuing to spiral out of control.

Crowe made his comments during a speech in the Dáil on a Private Members motion calling for Government action on the housing crisis.

Deputy Crowe said:

“The housing crisis is getting worse and my constituent office is inundated with housing requests from people who have nowhere to turn, and have, or are about to, present as homeless to the local authority.

“Last month South Dublin County Council released figures which showed that a total of 201 council homes were allocated in 2013 from a waiting list of 7674 applicants.

“On Monday the Council informed me that 176 families were in one room emergency hotel accommodation.

“The Government needs to act now because at this current rate of allocations, it will take more than 40 years to clear the backlog in South County Dublin alone.

“Dublin South West Sinn Féin done their own research on the housing problem in my area and the survey found that 96% of rented accommodation advertised across Rathcoole, Rathfarnham, Saggart, Tallaght, Templeogue, Greenhills and Walkinstown was above the Social Welfare threshold for rent supplement.

“Cuts to rent supplement and rising rents are making it increasingly difficult for families to access the private rental sector. This is being made worse by the growing number of private landlords selling up, as banks move to repossess distressed buy-to-let mortgages.

“The result is increased homelessness and an increased housing need. This was leading to some families having to sleep in cars in my constituency.

Crowe continued:

“I am calling on the Government to be proactive and take practical measures to end the crisis.

“One way they can do this is to use €1 billion from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to initiate the construction of 6500 additional social housing homes across the State, and to and renovate an additional 948 on top of current government plans this year.

“They could also take urgent action regarding spiralling rents by implementing a system of rent control that guarantees a fair rate of return for landlords, and which is linked to both the Consumer Price Index and the quality of the property.

“Additionally, they can amend equality legislation to disallow the practice of landlords discriminating against recipients of rent supplement, and immediately reform the operation of the scheme to ensure recipients seeking rental properties are not unnecessarily disadvantaged.

“There is no quick fix solution to this crisis and we are offering them viable and suitable solutions. The longer the Government continues its policy of inaction, the worse and deeper this crisis becomes.”

ENDS