Louth 'so called' affordable housing scheme in Dáíl
Ten houses offered to applicants at a discounted rate of €305,000
What Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has described as the "so-called" affordable housing scheme, at Cois Farraige in Blackrock, where ten houses were offered to applicants at a discounted rate of €305,000, and just five were sold, was raised in Leinster House last week by the Dundalk TD.
During a Sinn Féin motion on housing in the Dáil, Deputy Ó Murchú outlined the problems with the scheme. He said: "Not for the first time, I brought up the so-called affordable housing scheme at Cois Farraige, Blackrock.
"In fairness to Louth County Council, it extended the time to ensure people could actually apply. Of the initial 26 applicants – I do not know how many more applied later – only five were able to meet the criteria.
"While there were meant to be ten affordable houses offered, only five applicants could meet the criteria and get a house. Therefore, there was a loss even on an attempt by the Government.
"I would like to reinforce the point that council officials made, namely, that the issues were the thresholds, criteria and difficulty.
"The fact is that the Government’s own system is absolutely failing the people. It is failing those in Louth County Council and other councils throughout the State that are trying to employ it. When something is broken, that needs to be accepted. The Government needs to examine how the problem is addressed and then move on."
Deputy Ó Murchú also highlighted the high cost of rents, as well as a lack of available rental properties. He said: "We do not need to see the Daft.ie report to realise people have unaffordable rents, if lucky enough to have got a property.
"In Louth, €1,661 was the average rent for the first quarter of 2024. If you search on daft.ie for a rental property in Dundalk and its surrounds, one will find only 11 available. For just Dundalk, only nine are available. The cost to rent a three-bedroom house is €1,750. A four-bedroom house would cost €2,450.
"A three-bedroom apartment would cost €2,200. I could go on but not for too long because there is not a whole pile of properties available. This is what we need to deal with."
He said the Housing Commission report shows "systemic failures, ineffective decision-making, reactive policy-making and risk aversion, all of which impact supply and undermine affordability."
The Louth TD added: "Solutions are being provided and we need to finally see action from the Government rather than the abject failure on housing, which is the cause of many of the issues with which we are all dealing."