Sinn Féin councillors to fight rent planned increases at council meeting

Sinn Féin have tabled a motion for tonight’s Dublin City Council meeting, which aims to reverse the recent rent hikes for council, HAP and RAS tenants.

The party’s leader on the council, Daithí Doolan, has said that “households are facing a cost of living crisis and we need to do all we can to reduce that burden.”

The Ballyfermot-Drimnagh councillor said that Dublin City Council, HAP and RAS tenants “have been hit this month with rent increases that add to the pressure for struggling families.”

“Many tenants are living in overcrowded, mouldy, damp conditions. I have seen for myself whole blocks of council flats riddled with damp. It is unacceptable that these tenants are now be forced to pay more rent with little or no hope of improved housing conditions,” he said.

“Meanwhile, HAP and RAS tenants in the precarious private tented sector are paying more rent and will never benefit from the promised maintenance programme the rent increase is supposed to fund.”

Doolan argued that the increases should be halted in the context of the cost of living crisis, which has only become more acute as a result of the war in Iran.

“Fuel, food and heating bills continue to spiral out of control. The price of heating homes is particularly hitting households in uninsulated, drafty council homes. Sinn Féin will use every opportunity available to us to reduce the burden on the people we represent. This means putting a halt to the recent rent increases for council, HAP and RAS tenants.”

“Sinn Féin voted against the recent council budget that contained these rent increases. I am urging all fellow city councillors to support this motion and reduce the cost-of-living burden on those who need our assistance the most,” Doolan said.

November’s council meeting, which saw Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour and Green councillors vote to increase rents for tenants, has become a hot-button issue for opposition parties on Dublin City Council.

The rent increases have become an issue at the doors for canvassers in next month’s Dublin Central by-election, various party sources have told the Northside and Southside People.