Latest news with #RaiseTheRoof
Irish Times
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ireland's housing perma-crisis returns to centre of political agenda
The seeming perma-crisis of housing and the Government's struggle to tackle the problem is once more front and centre of the political agenda. On Monday, left-wing Opposition parties – Sinn Féin , Labour , the Social Democrats and People Before Profit - announced plans for a major 'Raise the Roof' housing protest outside Leinster House next month to coincide with the tabling of a joint motion on the housing crisis. Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin said: 'We want the largest number of people who are angry and frustrated in the first instance with the Government's failures on housing … to come out, stand up to the Government and show your demand for something different.' People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy called for 'a massive show of people power', saying: 'We need to declare a housing emergency.' READ MORE It remains to be seen what bright ideas will be included in the Opposition's motion – they will not be unveiling its contents until closer to the time – but it is clear they intend to ramp up pressure on the Government on housing both inside and outside Leinster House. So what is the Government – which insists housing is its number one priority - doing about it all? Minister for Housing James Browne has had something of a baptism of fire in his new role but he and his officials have been working on a range of housing activation measures due to be announced in the coming weeks. The first is due to go before Cabinet today. Developers would be able to seek extensions to planning permissions in cases where building work has been delayed by judicial review proceedings, under the plans for emergency legislation set to be considered by Ministers today. The intention is for the legislation to be completed prior to the Dáil summer recess and there is a hope within Government that it could help to get thousands of units built. The measure is a bid to activate developments such as large-scale apartment projects which might otherwise go beyond their permission timeline after being held up as a result of judicial reviews sought by opponents of the planned developments. Another intervention is efforts to regulate AirBnB -style short-term lets amid a hope that potentially thousands of homes could be freed up for the long-term rental market. As Jack Horgan-Jones reports today , there were other considerations in developing that policy too, as officials warned that failure to regulate short-term lettings could lead to protests against tourism, undermining the 'Irish welcome' and damaging the attractiveness of Ireland as a destination. Separately, there are ongoing deliberations over the future of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) – where two per cent caps on rent increases are aimed at protecting tenants from large hikes. However, the system has fuelled concern that private investment in housing is being stifled and is impacting on supply. The Opposition are poised to oppose any outcome of this review that in their view leads to rent increases. At the weekend, Minister of State for Housing John Cummins said there are a 'range of options' under consideration in relation to RPZs. He told RTÉ: 'We want to ensure that we have protections in place for renters while also increasing supply. I think we can find a balance between both.' Finding this balance is likely to prove tricky. Ultimately the Coalition has pledged to introduce a new 'all of Government national housing plan' that will see construction capacity ramped up to build more than 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030. Another story today by Niamh Towey shows how reaching that target will prove difficult. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is due to tell the Oireachtas committee on housing that there will be no major uptick in housing supply this year or next year. While the ESRI is currently forecasting just over 34,000 new homes will be built this year and 37,000 in 2026, 'most of the risks weigh on the downside', researcher Conor O'Toole will tell TDs and Senators. The latest housing targets set by the Government aim for a total of 303,000 new homes to be built by 2030, starting with 41,000 homes this year and rising incrementally to 60,000 homes a year by 2030. A total of 30,330 homes were built in 2024, a decrease from 33,000 in 2023, which the ESRI points to as a 'notable weakness'. Best Reads Today's lead outlines how a consultant working at Children's Health Ireland (CHI) who was at the centre of an internal review for allegedly referring public patients to his own weekend clinic did not face disciplinary action. The consultant instead retired, after the investigation highlighted issues around governance and adherence to correct procedures in a children's hospital. Our Health Correspondent Shauna Bowers has the story here . The parties' selection of candidates for the upcoming presidential election is becoming a late late show, Harry McGee writes . Political Editor Pat Leahy outlines how Minister for Arts and Culture Patrick O'Donovan will seek funding to 'extend and expand' the basic income scheme for artists , which is due to expire this summer. A pilot scheme, under which 2,000 artists have been paid €325 a week, has been operating for the last three years but is due to conclude in August. On the opinion pages Fintan O'Toole asks : if there's so much buyer's remorse about Brexit, why is Nigel Farage the rising figure in UK politics? Playbook The Cabinet is meeting this morning. Here is our tee-up story about what is set to be discussed by Ministers, including the drafting of legislation prohibiting the importation of goods from illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Proceedings in the Dáil kick off with Leaders' Questions at 2pm. At 3.50pm Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan is expected to make a public apology on behalf of the State to the family of Shane O'Farrell, who died after being knocked off his bicycle in Co Monaghan in 2011 by a man with multiple convictions. From 6.10pm onwards the Dáil will debate a proposed Sinn Féin Bill to stop the sale of Israeli bonds through the Irish Central Bank. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will take Parliamentary Questions at 8.10pm. TDs will have an opportunity to raise 'Topical Issues' at 9.46pm. Government business in the Seanad includes statements on the Local Democracy Taskforce. A range of Oireachtas committees will be electing their Leas-Chathaoirleach and meeting in private session. The committee on foreign affairs will hear from Minister of State for international development and diaspora Neale Richmond at 3pm. The Central Bank and ESRI will be before the committee on housing, also at 3pm. The full schedule for the Dáil, Seanad and committees can be found here: Sign up for Politics push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for the Inside Politics newsletter to get our politics team's take direct to your inbox.
BreakingNews.ie
26-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Resistance to rent cap change would be like water charge campaign, Ó Broin says
Resistance to an easing of rent caps has been likened to opposition against water charges by Sinn Féin's housing spokesman. Eoin Ó Broin said the 'do-nothing Government is letting people down' as he called for emergency action on housing. Advertisement It comes after the four political parties involved in the 'Raise the Roof' housing campaign – Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit-Solidarity – announced a protest outside Leinster House next month. Raise the Roof, which is a trade union and civil society campaign, has been involved in several demonstrations since 2018. The next protest is scheduled from 6pm on June 17th and will coincide with a private member's motion on the housing crisis. At a joint media opportunity on Monday, Mr Ó Broin said: 'There is a growing anger and growing frustration at a Government that has completely abandoned communities, abandoned people in housing need, abandoned people in need of affordable childcare, abandoned people in need of vital supports for children with special needs or people accessing education or healthcare. Advertisement 'And at the centre of that is an ever-deepening housing crisis.' Asked how opposition parties would counter any move by the Government to reduce protections for tenants under Rent Pressure Zones, Mr O Broin said: 'Any move by Government to allow landlords to increase the rent burden on tenants – a rent burden that is already far too high – will be strongly resisted not just by our political parties here and the Raise the Roof movement, but I think by thousands and thousands of people. 'Industry is looking for the caps to be raised, they're looking for the caps to be waived in between tenancies, and they're also looking for the caps not to apply, not just to new rental stock but new rental stock over a period of time. 'The consequence of that will be – at a time when average rent is already over 2,000 euro a month – for rents to spiral ever upwards.' Advertisement He said that would be 'unacceptable' and added: 'Just as we've done in the past with the likes of Right to Water, we will put pressure inside the Oireachtas and without to force the Government to stand by renters and not heap extra pressure on them – and that will be one of the key actions on the 17th. Attempts to introduce metered water charges as part of the bailout programme were abandoned in 2017 after numerous mass protests. Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne said the housing crisis has deepened into a 'social catastrophe' and disaster'. He said his party would be 'actively and vociferously' opposing any attempt to remove rent caps. Advertisement Mr Hearne said: 'We need a change of direction and emergency action on building social and affordable housing on a huge scale.' Labour TD Marie Sherlock said there was a need for 'radical change' in housing delivery, adding: 'The level of despair out there is absolutely incredible; a degree of fatalism that housing will not be fixed in this country – and it has to be.' People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy said: 'In 2016, when we had the general election, you had just over 5,000 people in emergency accommodation. 'By the time of (the) 2020 general election, we were up to just over 10,000 people and by the time of the general election just gone, we were at about 15,000 people in emergency accommodation. Advertisement 'Over the course of that time, rents have doubled and house prices are at an all time high. (left to right) Paul Murphy of People Before Profit-Solidarity, Sinn Fein's Eoin O Broin, Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne and Labour TD Marie Sherlock. Photo: Niall Carson/PA. 'If we continue in the way we are going, by the time of the next general election we will have well over 20,000 people in emergency accommodation in this country, rents will have risen by another 40% or so – and house prices will be just so out of reach for ordinary people.' He added: 'We simply cannot wait until the next general election, we know what direction that this Government is pointing in: It is a government for landlords, by landlords – and for developers.' Mr Murphy, who was involved in the protests against water charges, called for the declaration of a housing emergency and added: 'We need to act. That means pivoting away from reliance on the private sector, reliance on the market to deliver housing and instead for a much, much greater role of the State.' Asked for details of what would be included in the motion, the representatives said that would be announced at a later date.
