Sinn Féin Councillor Gary Doherty has today spoken out about the scale of the housing crisis in Donegal following the broadcast last night of a shocking RTÉ documentary into the emotional and psychological effects of families living in emergency accommodation.
Cllr Doherty says that the latest figures from Donegal County Council show that as of last month, there were 2,564 applications on the authority’s waiting list that are currently in need of housing, 80% of whom do not receive social housing support at present.
Cllr Doherty told Donegal Daily: “I think we can all agree that the documentary which aired last night on RTÉ which followed the lives of three families and their experiences of living in emergency accommodation was harrowing and highlighted the complete failure of the current administration to deal effectively with the housing crisis across this state.
“Last night’s exposé mirrors the situation locally here in Donegal where last month a total of 2,564 applicants were on local authority waiting lists as in need of housing.
“Worse still, is that these figures also reveal that the Net Housing need in the county, which relates to the total number of applicants that are not in receipt of social housing support at present, now stands at 2,093 – over 80% of total applications.
“Most astonishing of all however is the staggering surge in the level of housing need across the county between 2011 and these most recent figures.
“In March 2011, the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government calculated Net Need in Donegal to be at 1,134: fast forward to the present and this figure has just short of doubled.
“It’s widely known that there are a number of properties which form part of the current local authority housing stock which are lying vacant in each of the Municipal Districts across Donegal and many of these have been unoccupied for quite some time.
“From figures which I’ve obtained from November and December last, there were some 137 vacant units in the county and shamefully some of these properties have been unoccupied for six years or more.
“Among the many reasons why people seek housing support include those living with a disability or who are living with a particular medical condition, those unable to meet accommodation costs, those experiencing homelessness or who are in emergency accommodation, members of the travelling community or those leaving institutional care.
“Let’s be clear here, it’s very easy to talk numbers but behind each of these figures there is an individual, a couple or indeed a family whose accommodation needs are not being met and in the Ireland of 2016 this simply isn’t good enough.”
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