‘Reckless’ and ‘Ridiculous’ Government - Social Housing league tables criticised

Donegal Municipal District Councillors criticised the Government for “blaming” Donegal County Council for social housing availability in the county, following the publication of a social housing league table.

Speaking during Donegal MD’s July meeting, Cllr Jimmy Brogan and Cllr Noel Jordan expressed negative feedback to the Government’s publication of the social housing league table, however, the recently appointed Cathaoirleach for Donegal MD, Cllr Micheál Naughton, defended the Government’s stance.

Donegal County Council sat dead last on a league table comparing the delivery of new social housing between the state’s 31 local authorities.

The county council here achieved just 46% of the target set for it under the Government’s Housing for All plan, providing 248 newly built social homes between 2022 and 2024, which was far shy of the 534 expected of it.

Laois, a county with a population just over half that of Donegal, provided 670 new social homes, or nearly twice the 359 target set for it, and leads the league table.

Cllr Brogan, an independent, said: “I see Donegal County Council has been named among the lowest performers. That’s not what I see. It is a government problem and not a local county council problem. 

“For the Government to blame Donegal County Council is reckless, I think. For Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to be blaming Dublin County Council is ridiculous.”

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Sinn Féin’s Cllr Jordan commented: “The government is blaming local authorities. They are not efficient enough, and the policies coming out on their housebuilding and the figures are totally off the wall. 

“I totally agree with Cllr Brogan on the poor performance of the Government.” 

However, Fianna Fáil’s Cllr Naughton rebuked the criticism and stated the need to support developers.

He stated: “Let’s be very clear, the Government is not blaming Donegal County Council. I appreciate Donegal County Council are doing their best.

“We are doing a lot of stuff right, but we could be doing more to deliver houses. It is not a blame game. 

“There is a lot more that can be built, and developers and the county council should find a solution.”

Cllr Brogan responded: “The Government did blame Donegal County Council. They said they were the worst performer. 

“Don't try to deflect the blame from Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil. That's where the blame lies. You can’t build houses if you don’t get the money.

The Donegal MD area manager, Pauric Sheerin, said that Donegal County Council was in “not the place that anyone wants to be in” and that there could be development they felt would have been finished this year, and would go into next year.

He said: “In terms of the provision at local MD level, we were, to a certain degree, fortunate that a number of developments came to fruition in the last couple of years. That's why we are constantly talking to housing capital. 

“In terms of the provision and leasing of houses, to try and get social housing in, we will all have to double our efforts on that.”