Thurles Local Election candidate calls for change of government

Sinn Féin Local Election candidate for Thurles Dan Harty has said Ireland needs a new Government to solve the housing crisis.
He said it is clear from the figures that the crisis is going in the “wrong direction.”

"It seems to me that in every aspect of the housing crises in Ireland the metrics are going in the wrong direction, and people have had enough.

“The Government need to ramp up the provision of social and affordable housing to meet the needs of the people.

“Fine Gael pledged in 2011 to end homelessness at a time when homeless figures were at 3,744.

“Homelessness has not ended, in fact it has greatly increased in the time since this pledge was made to 13,531.

“The current government parties of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been at the helm for long enough now, resulting in the country being lost at sea.

“We need a General Election and a change of government now,” said Mr Harty.

Caption: Dan Harty

Mr Harty cited a recent statement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, stating that he doesn’t want housing supply ramped up too quickly.

He said this shows just how out of touch he is with the plight of ordinary citizens who are struggling daily to have their housing needs met.

Mr Harty went on to say that the latest Department of Housing homelessness report shows that, in January, a total of 13,531 people, including 4,027 children, were in emergency accommodation funded by the Department.

This figure does not take into account the number of families who are in hidden homeless situations or those sleeping rough.
On top of this we have over 1,000 asylum seekers without accommodation, the majority of whom are sleeping in tents on the streets of our capital.

“The steady rise of these figures in report after report show that it is patently clear that this Government does not care about addressing the homelessness crisis.

“It is not a priority for them. As long as they are in Government, the worse things will get.

“In Tipperary, the market rents are on average 9.5% higher in the final three months of 2023 than they were a year previously, according to the latest Daft.ie report.

Mr Harty also cited the REA Average House Price Index, showing house prices are now higher than at the peak of the Celtic Tiger boom.

In Tipperary, a three bed semi-detached house now costs an average of €234,875, up 10% on 12 months ago.