The Social Democrats are urging councillors on South Dublin County Council to vote against increases to social housing rents this week.
The issue of rent increases has been pushed to a vote at a specially convened meeting this Thursday (June 25) by the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit.
The parties have used a mechanism under Section 140 of the Local Government Act to convene a special council meeting to vote on the proposed increases.
Social Democrats councillors Eoin Ó Broin (Clondalkin) and Justin Sinnott (Rathfarnham) are strongly opposed to the rent increases for South Dublin County Council’s 20,000 tenants.
From July 1, rents are set to increase from 10 per cent of household incomes to 12.5 per cent of incomes. For many households, this will result in a 25 per cent increase in rent, with some seeing rises as high as 50 per cent.
Rory Hearne TD, the Social Democrats housing spokesperson, said:
“I commend Cllrs Ó Broin and Sinnott for taking this stance. Public landlords should not be imposing rent hikes in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
“Households are struggling to pay their energy bills and feed their families as the cost of everything continues to skyrocket. The last thing social housing tenants need in the middle of this crisis is a rent increase imposed by their local authority.”
June 23, 2026