Department hits back at housing criticism

THE Department of Environment, Community and Local Government has hit back at criticism from local Sinn Fein representatives over Dublin City Council’s Capital Programme for 2014 to 2016.

In a joint statement the three Sinn Féin candidates in the Beaumont-Donaghmede electoral area, Cllr Larry O’Toole, Cllr Mícheál Mac Donncha and area representative Denise Mitchell, described the programme as

“pathetic

?.

“The Capital Programme for Dublin City Council for 2014 to 2016 provides for only 422 additional housing units up to the end of 2016,

? they said.

“In the face of a massive housing crisis in our capital city this can only be described as pathetic.

“With over 17,000 family units on the housing list in Dublin and with growing numbers being forced into emergency accommodation, this plan is a recipe for actually deepening the crisis.

“There has been a ten-fold increase since 2012 in the spending by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive on emergency accommodation for homeless families.

“Growing numbers are being forced into homelessness by rising rents in the private sector and by the restrictions on Rent Supplement.

?

The Sinn Féin representatives said that in this area they were seeing more and more cases every week of people being simply unable to pay rent and forced out of their homes.

“Yet capital spending on housing in Dublin City is to be reduced from

?¬123 million in 2014 to

?¬70 million in 2016,

? they stated.

“Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan has claimed that local authorities are going back to constructing social housing.

“The figures for capital spending in Dublin city expose the failure of the housing policy of this Minister and this Government.

?

The Sinn Féin representatives are calling for a

“radical change in Government policy, with councils properly funded to address the crisis through building social housing

?.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government said

“scaremongering

? during an election campaign was nothing new.

“Sinn Fein’s inaccurate statement certainly fits into that trend,

? he told Northside People.

“The Minister for Housing and the Department are fully aware of the pressure on housing across the Dublin region.

“Instead of the bluster that Sinn Fein engages in, the Minister, working with local authorities across Dublin, has introduced important initiatives that will make a real difference to families across Dublin such as:

?¢ More than

?¬5 million will be invested in the coming months to bring back into social use 270 vacant houses across Dublin this year.

?¢ For the first time in many years all Dublin local authorities received funds this year to recommence mainstream local authority house building.

?¢ More than 3,500 local authority homes across Dublin are warmer and families enjoying lower energy bills due to an energy efficiency initiative launched last year by Minister O’Sullivan. More than

?¬4.5 million has been allocated this year to continue this innovative measure.

?¢ In 2014 the funding for homeless services in Dublin was maintained. In the coming weeks the Minister will bring a detailed implementation plan to Cabinet to tackle homelessness over the next two years.

?¢ In the coming weeks the Minister will announce new funding in Dublin for housing for the elderly and people who are homeless.

?

The spokesman pointed out that in 2014 funding in Dublin for grants to people’s houses to assist with mobility or disability were increased.

“Minister for Housing, Jan O’Sullivan, is committed to addressing the pressure on housing in Dublin,

? he added.

“She is introducing practical, workable solutions that assist families.

?