Agenda and minutes

The Lord Mayor opened the meeting by explaining that he would allocate 5 minutes speaking time to the Chair of the Housing SPC and then a Member from each of the political groups after which he would open the discussion to the floor.

Dublin City Council notes that:

• Access to secure and affordable housing is increasingly out of reach for many people
• From the locked out generation of students and young workers or unemployed people to older workers facing into retirement, high cost insecure accommodation is a reality for too many people
• The failure of government to provide an adequate supply of good quality public housing in sustainable communities lies at the heart of the housing crisis
• The most graphic symptom of this crisis is the growing number of children living in emergency accommodation
• A new approach to housing is required to meet the housing needs of all those locked out of the private market including young people, those on modest incomes, those on low pensions, those on Council waiting lists, travellers, people with disabilities, older people and students
• Important proposals to address the Housing Crisis have been put forward by a wide variety of groups including the National Housing and Homeless Coalition and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Dublin City Council therefore calls on the current government, ahead of Budget 2019, to:

• Declare the housing and homeless crisis an emergency
• Dramatically increase the supply of public, affordable housing, including publicly-provided cost rental housing, by increasing capital spending on housing to at least €2.3bn in budget 2019
• Build public housing on public land; and aggressively target the return of vacant houses to active use
• Reduce the flow of adults and children into homelessness with emergency legislation to make it illegal to evict anybody into homelessness
• Hold a referendum to enshrine the right to public housing in the Constitution

It was proposed by Councillor Daithi Doolan “that Dublin City Council notes that:

• Access to secure and affordable housing is increasingly out of reach for many people
• From the locked out generation of students and young workers or unemployed people to older workers facing into retirement, high cost insecure accommodation is a reality for too many people
• The failure of government to provide an adequate supply of good quality public housing in sustainable communities lies at the heart of the housing crisis
• The most graphic symptom of this crisis is the growing number of children living in emergency accommodation
• A new approach to housing is required to meet the housing needs of all those locked out of the private market including young people, those on modest incomes, those on low pensions, those on Council waiting lists, travellers, people with disabilities, older people and students
• Important proposals to address the Housing Crisis have been put forward by a wide variety of groups including the National Housing and Homeless Coalition and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Dublin City Council therefore calls on the current government, ahead of Budget 2019, to:

• Declare the housing and homeless crisis an emergency
• Dramatically increase the supply of public, affordable housing, including publicly-provided cost rental housing, by increasing capital spending on housing to at least €2.3bn in budget 2019
• Build public housing on public land; and aggressively target the return of vacant houses to active use
• Reduce the flow of adults and children into homelessness with emergency legislation to make it illegal to evict anybody into homelessness
• Hold a referendum to enshrine the right to public housing in the Constitution”

The motion was seconded by Lord Mayor N. Ring, Councillors G. Kelly, R. McHugh, V. Jackson, A. Gilliland, M. Freehill, L. O’Toole, T. MacVeigh, P. Dunne, E. Ryan, D. Lacey, S. McGrattan, M. MacDonncha, N. Reilly, C. O’Moore, E. Moran, T. Keegan, P. Bourke, S. Stapleton, C. Perry, C. Cuffe, M. O’Brien, G. Fagan, C. Burke, P. Hand, A. Keegan, J. Lyons, T. Brabazon, M. Mullooly, C. O’Connor, F. Kennedy, D. Costello, R. McGinley, S.P. Mahon, A. Clancy, J. Boylan, C Ni Dhálaigh.   

Following a full and wide ranging debate on the issues surrounding the housing crisis, the motion was put to a vote and was carried (See Appendix A). The Members also agreed that the Lord Mayor would write to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to inform him of their decision to pass the motion and to request an invitation for a cross-party delegation of Councillors to give a full presentation to the Dáil Committee on Housing.

The Lord Mayor thanked the Members for their attendance and contributions. The meeting concluded at 8.05pm.