Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Sean Crowe has called on the government to take urgent action on a broad range  of issues contributing to the rise of homelessness in Dublin. Deputy Crowe said;

“Every statistic released over the last 12 months has shown a dramatic rise in people experiencing homelessness. Now the housing charity Threshold say that their services have seen a dramatic 77% increase.

“The government obviously do not want to see any U-turn on their cuts agenda, but to prevent the rise and growth of people becoming homeless or sleeping rough, some compromise is needed. Fine Gael and Labour’s austerity agenda has increased homelessness and they need to face up to that.

“It is vital that social welfare payments are restored to young people coming out of care or homelessness. The high cost of rented accommodation mean that the cap on rent allowance must be raised and the minimum contribution reduced.

“In cases where landlords are ceasing with Rent Supplement or RAS contracts, local authorities must step in. “A code of conduct is needed for banks dealing with distressed buy to let mortgages.

“In the long term we need to see a major step up of public housing provision through a new building programme and the renovation of existing stock, particularly in the crisis Dublin area.”