Unite calls on governement to make public housing centrepiece of Budget 2019

Trade union Unite has called on the government to prioritise and make public housing a centrepiece of next week's Budget 2019.

The trade union issued a Pre-Budget Comment outlining its priorities for Budget 2019 today.

Unite’s Senior Officer in the Republic, Brendan Ogle, said that “the rainy day is already here for tens of thousands of people in housing need”.

“A public emergency requires a public solution, and Unite is calling for a nationwide mixed-income universal public housing system based on the cost rental model.

By contrast, the Government’s preferred market-led model of ‘social housing’ is aimed at benefitting the private rental sector rather than dealing with the emergency, with state subsidies to private landlords set to reach €1bn by 2021.

“Unite is very clear: social housing is about tinkering with a broken system. Public housing is about reforming and changing the system.

“Investment not only in housing but in other vital public services including health and early education is vital if we are to future-proof and Brexit-proof both our economy and society.

He said that Minister Donohoe proposes to stash €500m in "a rainy day fund despite the fact that the rainy day is already here for tens of thousands of people".

“Unite and the trade union movement will measure Budget 2019 on how it delivers for working people”, Mr Ogle concluded.

- Digital Desk