Fianna Fáil demands affordable homes scheme
A €100m affordable homes package, tax incentives for the rental sector, and more social housing are part of Fianna Fáil’s demands for Budget 2019.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy was informed of the budget wishes in a meeting this week with his Fianna Fáil counterpart, Darragh O’Brien. A child homelessness taskforce was also discussed.
The understands the minister also promised that families would not be ejected from emergency hotel accommodation to make way for visitors coming to see the Pope in Dublin.
With just over six weeks to go to budget day, ministers are drawing up spending commitment plans for next year. Fianna Fáil has said housing and health are two areas that must be prioritised.
The housing crisis is particularly acute, with almost 10,000 homeless people, rents rising to an all-time high, and house prices still spiralling out of reach for young buyers in the capital.
Mr O’Brien met Mr Murphy on Monday, and the two discussed housing issues for the budget for the first time.
Under the confidence and supply agreement, Fianna Fáil facilitates the passage of the Fine Gael-led government’s budgets in exchange for its policies being supplied or implemented.
It is understood the pair discussed Fianna Fáil’s desire for a €100m affordable homes package for next year. This would allow first- time buyers paying a third of their income on rent or potentially on a mortgage to avail of cheap housing, criteria for which would be set by local authorities.
Mr O’Brien is also pressing for an increase in social housing proposals and a more concrete indication of how thousands of those homes are being built.
Mr Murphy was pressed to agree to examine tax arrangements in the rental sector. The pair also discussed tenants’ rights and calls for security of tenure to be strengthened.
They also discussed Mr O’Brien’s proposals for a taskforce on child homelessness.
The taskforce, he maintains, would bring together charities, local authorities, and officials.
