‘Government reneging on pre-fab plan’

The Government has been accused of reneging on a vow to have 150 “posh prefab” modular houses ready for the homeless by Christmas.

The first will be ready by February, Alex White, the communications minister, told the Dáil as the opposition accused the Government of not taking the homeless crisis seriously enough.

Fianna Fáil environment spokesman Barry Cowen said that even the February date was unlikely to be met due to planning red tape.

He called on ministers to bring in emergency legislation to streamline the planning process in order to provide speedier help for homeless people forced to sleep in tents as well as B&Bs due to rising rents.

Mr Cowen said the Government was not taking the situation seriously enough.

“There is another report from Simon stating that rents in Dublin are up 8.2% since last year. Daft.ie says that nationally rent for a two-bedroom house is 20% above the rent supplement.

“Families with children are being squeezed out of the rental market, yet the minister has refused to increase the rent supplement, even though the minister, the Tánaiste, and their government colleagues have been asked to do so since 2012.

“The supply of private housing, in Dublin in particular, is stagnant. House repossession cases continue apace, with 100 alone in Cork in one day. There could be thousands more on the housing waiting list by the end of the year, according to Fr Peter McVerry,” Mr Cowen told the Dáil.

The Laois-Offaly TD accused the Government of getting its priorities wrong.

“Up to 3,000 vacant units across the country require refurbishment before families can move into them, yet the minister for environment has cut €6m from the refurbishment fund.

“It makes no sense whatsoever. In fact, it is a lesson in how to make things worse,,” said Mr Cowen.

The communications minister defended the Government’s record stating it was investing €2.2bn in building new housing.

“Many of the problems stem from a chronic lack of supply of housing which is causing knock-on problems across the property market and the wider society, including renters, first-time buyers, and low-income households.

“What we have to do is take action to resolve it. We have a target of 110,000 social housing units by 2020, including 35,000 new social housing units and 75,000 through the housing assistance payment,” Mr White said.

Socialists TD Ruth Coppinger, meanwhile, accused Labour of ignoring the housing crisis for four-and-a-half years.