News

Fine Gael abandons renters to private market while ignoring housing solutions

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.8″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.8″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”excerpt” disabled_on=”on|on|on” _builder_version=”3.9″ disabled=”on”] Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD today blasted the government for abandoning renters as the latest Daft.ie figures show that the number of homes available to rent has reached its lowest level since 2006. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://www.socialdemocrats.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/catherine-iv-1.jpg” align=”center” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”3.9″ max_width=”84%”]   [/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Body Text” […]

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Residential Tenancies Bill a step forward but nowhere near enough

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.8″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.8″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”excerpt” disabled_on=”on|on|on” _builder_version=”3.9″ disabled=”on”] Social Democrats Political Director and Local Election candidate for Lucan, Anne-Marie McNally has welcomed the final Dáil stage of the Residential Tenancies Bill which incorporates the key provisions of the Social Democrats’ Bill of the same name. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://www.socialdemocrats.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/photoMar18.jpg” align=”center” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”3.9″ max_width=”84%”]   […]

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Urgent need to agree homeless definition so problem can be counted and tackled

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has said there is an urgent need for an agreed definition of what constitutes homelessness so that the current confusion and spin over the March homelessness figures is brought to an end. Deputy Murphy said: “It is a total insult to families living in different types of temporary and […]

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Government must get to grips with affordable housing crisis by building on state land

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD today called on the government to get to grips with the chronic shortage of affordable homes and ensure that state land is used to provide both social and affordable housing. Deputy Murphy made her comments as RTÉ reported that a government scheme to incentivise the construction of affordable homes […]

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Inconsistencies in Social Housing Stock Figures

Social Democrats Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan said: “The report of the National Oversight and Audit Committee showing key performance indicators for local government in 2016 states that Social Housing Stock figures provided by local authorities could not be published due to errors and inconsistencies with data supplied. It is incredible to think that our local government […]

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Housing Minister’s bravado has no basis in fact

Social Democrats Co-Leader Catherine Murphy has said it is completely unacceptable that the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, is unable to provide accurate figures regarding the amount of housing units built last year. She said that despite this lack of knowledge the Minister was irresponsibly making unfounded claims about Government exceeding its targets. Catherine Murphy […]

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Special help needed for young families ‘stuck’ in unsuitable apartments

Special measures are needed to help young couples with children who bought apartments during the boom and now find themselves ‘stuck’ in unsuitable accommodation and unable to purchase family-sized homes, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said today. Deputy Murphy said: “People, including many young couples, who bought small apartments during the boom, are now […]

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Budget 2018 will prolong the housing emergency

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has described Budget 2018 as a Budget of squandered opportunities in so many ways but in particular on addressing the housing emergency. She said there are lots of carrots but very few sticks, for example the Vacant Land Levy announced is still less than land price inflation. Deputy Murphy […]

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Homelessness funding underscores regional divide

Catherine Murphy TD, Social Democrats Co-Leader, has drawn attention to a PQ reply which details funding provided to homeless services on a regional basis which, she says, gives further meaning to some of the harrowing stories emanating from areas outside the Dublin region such as the ones highlighted on Morning Ireland yesterday. The reply received […]

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Housing shortage is even more acute than official data shows

The government’s inability to accurately count the number of new houses built each year is masking the true scale of the housing shortage, the Social Democrats said today. The party’s co-leader Catherine Murphy TD was commenting on a Goodbody BER housebuilding tracker published today, which shows that 5,377 houses were completed in 2016. This compares […]

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