DÁIL ÉIREANN Fógra Tairisceana : Notice of Motion GNÓ COMHALTAÍ PRÍOBHÁIDEACHA PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS “That Dáil Éireann acknowledges: - there exists a current housing and homelessness emergency in the country that must be addressed as a matter of urgency; - current housing resources and supports are at breaking point; - the current situation is forcing many people on rent assistance, which is set below the market rent level, to engage in illegal ‘top-up’ practices in order to sustain their housing situation; - there is a shortage of private rented accommodation across the country and where accommodation does exist, it is increasingly unaffordable; - the lack of alternative housing options available;
And calls on the Government to: - accept and recognise the current housing issue as a crisis; - develop a National Housing Strategy to address the identified need for in excess of 80,000 new housing units within the next 5 years as detailed in the recent Housing Agency Report; -recommence construction via Local Authorities and Housing Associations to reduce the amount of time that people are forced to spend on social housing waiting lists by providing a minimum of 10,000 units per annum; - to address the large number of voids that have been sitting unoccupied, sometimes for years and to provide for those voids to be renovated and occupied. - take urgent action regarding spiralling rents and the unaffordability of private rented accommodation - introduce a new, broad, rental option to make renting a more attractive option; - alter the remit of the PTRB to protect tenants from eviction during an appeals process.
- Immediately move to disallow the practice of landlords refusing tenancy to rent allowance recipients; - address the impediments experienced by Housing Associations in leveraging European funding; -introduce a change to legislation to make it easier for mortgagees to access mortgage to rent under the PIA; -introduce measures that will ensure that those identified as at risk of homelessness are sufficiently provided for in order to prevent homelessness occurring -provide the necessary resources to Local Authorities to ensure that no family or individual, that presents as homeless, will be denied appropriate emergency accommodation within that Council area. - ensure that any emergency accommodation offered in a situation involving children will be within a reasonable distance from the children’s school. - accept that permanent, secure and affordable housing is a right for all citizens.
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Catherine Murphy, Richard Boyd Barrett, Finian McGrath, Thomas Pringle, Tom Fleming, Luke Ming Flanagan, Maureen O’Sullivan, Clare Daly, Joan Collins, Mick Wallace, Seamus Healy, John Halligan, Shane Ross, Stephen Donnelly.
[30th April, 2014]