Mayo TD calls for an election as Government housing plan 'is not working’

Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh has called for a general election as the government is failing to deliver social housing in Mayo, and nationwide.

This comes after new figures published by the Parliamentary Budget Office show that 4,018 people in Mayo are on social housing lists or in receipt of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

The report estimates that 4.4 percent of the entire Irish population has an ongoing need amounting to at least 235,659 people, of which 39 percent are children.  

Furthermore, the figures estimate that the total build cost for all households with an ongoing need in Mayo is €637 million and €34.95 billion nationally.

Deputy Conway-Walsh commented that the only way to 'fix' the Government’s ‘mismanagement of the housing crisis’ is with a change of government.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said: “This is further evidence of the government’s inability to fix the housing crisis and their failure to deliver social and affordable housing for those who need it.

She explained how this report estimates a 56 percent increase in the number of social homes across the state is needed just to meet the current deficit.

She continued: “Yet only last month, Taoiseach Simon Harris inexplicably claimed that a sufficient volume of social housing was being delivered.

“These figures rubbish the Taoiseach's claim and show just how out of touch he and his government are when it comes to their failures to address the housing crisis.”

The Sinn Féin TD also referenced three independent reports, which were released by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland, the Central Statistics Office, and Savills, and said they ‘once again’ highlight that ‘the government’s housing plan is not working’. 

“That is why we need a general election, a change of government and a Sinn Féin Minister for Housing,” she concluded.