News

The Minister’s record to date is one of failure. No amount of spin can change this. The latest update on the Housing for All plan reveals the Government is rich on promises for the future and exceptionally poor on actual delivery, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “No affordable purchase homes were delivered […]

The government must urgently introduce a tax on vacant buildings New figures confirming there are more than 100,000 vacant and derelict homes across the country are further evidence the government’s housing policy is failing, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. Deputy O’Callaghan was commenting after GeoDirectory published new figures which revealed 90,158 dwellings […]

This level of rental increase is immiserating ordinary workers New figures from the RTB show that the government has abjectly failed to constrain runaway rents, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “Rents rose by 8.3pc in the third quarter of the year – the highest rate of rental increase since 2017. In Dublin, […]

Ordinary workers can no longer aspire to own their own home New figures from the CSO show that house prices are spiralling out of the reach of ordinary workers, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “House prices in October increased by 13.5pc – the highest rate of increase in six years. This is […]

Vacancy rates are as high as 11.5pc in some of our towns The Government must urgently introduce a tax on vacant homes, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. Deputy O’Callaghan made his comments as the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing met to discuss the issue of vacancy and dereliction. “The Government is failing […]

The current mess should be cleaned up with one substantial new piece of legislation Repeated changes to legislation impacting renters is causing uncertainty and confusion for both tenants and landlords, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “In fewer than two years, the Government has introduced six bills to amend legislation affecting renters. Coming […]

How can anyone on an average income afford to save €52,000? News that the median deposit for first-time buyers is now €52,000 is further evidence of how unaffordable housing has become, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. Deputy O’Callaghan was commenting after new figures from the Banking and Payments Federation found the median […]

Five children became homeless every day in October Immediate action from the government is needed to tackle homelessness as five children became homeless every day in October, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “The latest homelessness figures show the number of people who are homeless and living in emergency accommodation has increased to […]

The shared equity scheme will throw further fuel on the fire of an overheated market The Central Bank’s warning that the Shared Equity Scheme will push up house prices is a shot across the government’s bow, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “The Central Bank report today was crystal clear. It said that, […]

The introduction of directly elected Mayors should be a catalyst for change, not a mandate for more of the same The proposed powers for the directly elected Mayor of Limerick do not go far enough, according to the Social Democrats Local Government Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. Deputy O’Callaghan was commenting after the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local […]

Workers and young families, desperate to find a home, will find very little to be hopeful about in today’s figures House price increases of more than 12pc in the past year have firmly bolted the door to home ownership for generation rent, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “House prices in Ireland are […]

An immediate ban on rent increases must introduced as a matter of urgency The latest rent report from Daft.ie is further evidence that rent levels are out of control, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “It is alarming that rents have risen by almost 7pc in the past year. Average rents are now […]

It should not take more than a year to turn around a social home – this should be done in a matter of weeks  The State must take the lead in tackling vacancy, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan T.D. Deputy O’Callaghan was reacting to a report, from the National Oversight and Audit […]

This is the third half-hearted and ineffective attempt to deal with big funds buying up entire housing developments The proposal going to cabinet today to allow local authorities reserve up to 50% of new developments for owner-occupiers does not go far enough, according to the Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. “With this latest measure, […]