Mayor takes issue with Taoiseach’s housing comments

MAYOR of Fingal Cllr Darragh Butler has taken issue with comments made by Taoiseach Enda Kenny regarding the housing crisis. 

During a Leaders’ Questions session, Deputy Kenny said €5.3 billion is being provided for 47,000 houses by 2021.

However, in his speech, Deputy Kenny said: “It is important to note that in recent years, local authorities have not measured up in the building of social housing to the extent needed.”

Mayor Butler said he was “disappointed” to hear the Taoiseach’s comment.   

“I’m not sure about the rest of the country, but that’s certainly not the case with regard to Fingal County Council,” he said. 

“I was surprised and annoyed to hear the Taoiseach’s comments when he stated that local authorities were not doing enough with regard to the housing crises.  

“I was very disappointed to see such a sweeping statement and an attempt to push the blame from central Government down to local authorities.  

“Fingal County Council is widely seen as one of the more progressive councils in this regard, and as we have continuously said to Government, give us the money and we will continue to deliver. 

“This is a very important issue for me and, in my year as mayor, I want to do all that I can to assist Fingal County Council in helping to resolve this nationwide crises.” 

The council is already on track to exceed, by 45 per cent, the current target of 1,376 social housing units it was given under the Social Housing Strategy 2020.

“Fingal County Council has bought more proposals to us councillors in the last eight months, than in the past six years and has also been very active in purchasing properties from a wide range of sources including NAMA, banks, receivers and individuals,” added Mayor Butler.

Fingal County Council chief executive Paul Reid said there has been some “unjust” public criticism that local authorities have been slow to respond to the current housing crisis.  

“I believe that Fingal has mobilised comprehensively over the past few years,” said Mr Reid. 

“We have good support from our elected members, department officials and our staff, who have stepped up to the mark in an exceptional manner. “We will continue to do so with the Government’s new action plan particularly as it will also allow us to recruit additional skilled resources to our team.”

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach’s office told Northside People: “The over reliance of revenue from the housing sector led to a dysfunction in the housing market. 

“The Government’s recently published Rebuilding Ireland – an Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness seeks to address this. The local authorities will play a pivotal role in the action plan.”

Meanwhile, Fingal County Council said it has started to implement ‘Rebuilding Ireland’, the Government’s new Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, launched by Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Simon Coveney. 

The plan addresses all aspects of the housing system under five pillars – homelessness, social housing, home construction, the rental sector and the utilisation of existing housing.

The council said it has already started putting the plan into action and is working with a number of developers across the county.

Director of Housing and Community at the council, Margaret Geraghty, and her department are interested in talking to others about how to support them in producing houses to buy and rent.

“Fingal County Council would welcome approaches from developers and builders interested in talking to us about supporting their ability to bring housing to the market for purchase and leasing,” said Ms Geraghty. 

“We are already actively working with a number of developers across the county along with Approved Housing Bodies and other service providers such as the HSE, not-for-profit organisations and education institutions to meet the diverse needs of our fast growing population.”