Mayo councillor pleads with housing minister to declare housing emergency

A HOUSING emergency should be declared in Mayo according to a local councillor who said working people were getting poor because of rental costs.

Independent councillor Harry Barrett called on the Castlebar Municipal District to write to the Minister of Housing to declare a housing emergency in the county town but was told that "it would be as useful as writing to Santa Claus".

The Castlebar-based national school teacher said that working families were facing homelessness because of the rental costs and they could not get any state help because they were over the income threshold.

“I am frightened by the housing need in this town and county at the moment. Rents are at a level I have never seen before. There is a growing cohort of people in this town who are working and cannot afford their rent and told they cannot get any help from the local authority because they are over the income limit and told they cannot get a bank loan. They are struggling. More and more working people are getting poorer because they cannot pay their rent,” he told the meeting.

Cllr Barrett added there needed to be a rethink in how houses are delivered in Ireland and urged the Minister of Housing to fund local authorities to build their own homes instead of relying on private developers. He praised the housing section of the municipal district for their work but said they are overworked and "flat out trying to delve out the loaves and the fishes".

While agreeing that there is a need to declare a housing emergency, Cllr Michael Kilcoyne commented that he had no faith in the Minister doing that.

“You have a lot of faith. I would have just as much faith in writing a letter to Santa Claus. The same thing will happen and that is the reality of it.

“We have two ministers in this constituency in government and there is nothing happening. I don't have the faith you have but I will support you and second what you are saying. It rests with the people we elected to the Dáil and that is where the problem rests,” he said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Blackie Gavin said officials from the Department of Housing should be invited to answer questions of the local councillors while Cllr Donna Sheridan said that more young people should be encouraged to enter apprenticeships in order to address the lack of tradespeople.