Ex mayor says housing policy is working in Cork

A FORMER lord mayor of Cork has claimed the Government’s housing policy is working, saying the State has spent close to €1bn on social housing in Cork in the past 18 months.

Cork city councillor Colm Kelleher said that €878m had been spent on housing in Cork over the past year-and-a-half.

“Last year in the city under Housing for All, the Government’s housing policy, we delivered 934 social and affordable homes across the city, and that represented an investment of over €357m,” Mr Kelleher said.

“A further 1,151 social homes are under construction, representing an investment of over €402m , and there’s a total of 385 homes across seven schemes recently approved by the Department of Housing that will commence construction over the next number of months totaling just over €149m.

“The above, and the homes delivered in 2022, and those currently onsite and those commencing construction, represents an investment of just south of €900m, €878m in total, which isn’t that far away from a billion euros investment over the last 18 months by the Government in housing in Cork,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said.

He said tackling the housing crisis was “a mountain to climb” and would take time, but, his party was only two-and-a-half years in Government, and in the housing portfolio.

“We’re dealing with a decade of under-supply and we’re trying to play catch-up in relation to that.

“Now we do have a long, long way to go, but if you look at those numbers for investment in Cork alone, almost a billion euro out of a Government housing policy of €4.5bn, equates to just south of 25% of the national output,” the former Lord Mayor said.

Cllr Kelleher said he was acutely aware of the difficulties being caused by the housing crisis, and he said he was dealing with “countless people on almost a weekly basis” in relation to social housing.

“With the eviction ban being lifted, the Government have launched the tenant purchase in situ scheme, and I have personally dealt with four applicants, where Cork City Council have stepped in and purchased the home and it’s now a local authority house and the tenant hasn’t been moved,” he said.

“I’m currently dealing with another seven at the moment and I am confident that I will get all seven over the line.”

Cllr Kelleher said this was evidence that Government housing policy was working, and said “the proof is in the pudding”.

He referred to an emergency meeting of City Council proposed last Monday by Sinn Féin councillors and Independent councillor Thomas Moloney, which came to an abrupt end when councillors voted 13 to 12 not to proceed with a debate on the Government’s decision to lift the temporary ban on no-fault evictions.

“Last Monday night... we were inside at a finance and estimates meeting, and members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both approved the disposal of six sites for 28 social housing units and there wasn’t one member of the Opposition at that meeting, they were outside with signs and placards giving out,” he said.

“You can either be part of the solution or you can be a hurler on the ditch. We’re only interested in facts and figures, and we are delivering, and while we’re acutely aware of the problem and it is taking time, the figures speak for themselves,” Cllr Kelleher said.

Last week, Cllr Kelleher said it was “disappointing” 11 social housing units which he had officially opened last June are still empty.

The 11 apartments, capable of accommodating 17 people, are in Mandeville Place, on Pouladuff Road, and Cllr Kelleher cut the ribbon on them last year when he was lord mayor.

“When I opened them, I was advised that they were a week away from being habitable and that they were just working through a final snag-list,” Cllr Kelleher told the Irish Examiner last week.