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Tag Archives: housing crisis

O’Brien upbeat despite crisis

THE housing crisis in Clare may be acute, but when he was in Ennis last Friday, Minister Darragh O’Brien (FF) only saw positives. Addressing the media, he claimed continuously that things are getting better, and exuded an air of self congratulation rather than that of a man grappling with a crisis. At the official opening of 18 new social homes in Ennis, he was asked about a number of complaints made by county councillors that week, including claims that the State is distorting the market locally, actually making things harder for working people who want to buy their own homes. Responding, the Minister insisted that the housing crisis is easing, while he suggested Clare County Council would want to hurry on with delivering affordable housing. “The first thing is to commend Clare County Council, our councillors as well, our Dáil deputy Cathal and our senator Timmy for all the support they’ve given me on the development of new homes in …

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Action pledged on dereliction ‘heartbreak’ in county Clare

HEARTBREAK is being suffered by those struggling to find a home, when so many properties are left vacant and derelict, a meeting of Clare County Council has heard.  The comments came from Councillor Shane Talty in response to a motion tabled by Councillor Joe Killeen. The Ennistymon postmaster agreed with calls for stronger Council powers to use Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs). “If your family are housed, you might not even see the derelict properties,” he said, “But, for families and young people, and older people for coming off an income cliff in their transition to retirement age, if you’re passing out these derelict properties every day, families are literally heartbroken and say, ‘Why can’t I get an opportunity to make a home and make a life for a family there’?” Tabling the motion, Councillor Killeen said, “Every opportunity must be made to try and alleviate the situation by making more homes available. We must register our frustration at the number …

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Short-term lets creating ‘stark’ housing situation in Clare

THE housing crisis in West Clare, and elsewhere, is being worsened by short-term letting, a meeting of the Council has heard. A motion was tabled, at the December meeting, by Councillors Cillian Murphy, Tony O’Brien, Alan O’Callaghan and Pat Hayes calling on the Minister for Finance to look at a tax policy solution to encourage a switch from short-term to long-term rental. Outlining the situation, Councillor Cillian Murphy said that a search of Daft.ie had shown a total of 1,830 properties to rent nationwide. Of these, four were in Ennis and its environs; one in Lahinch; none in Ennistymon or Lisdoonvarna; two in Kilrush and its surrounds; none in Kilkee and six in the Shannon area. The Fianna Fáil member contrasted that situation with short-term letting, as revealed by the ‘Inside Airbnb’ research. “Across the whole country, there are 15,851 entire homes or apartments available for short term let on Airbnb,” he explained. “6,420 of those are operated by hosts …

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Housing director issues assurance on vacant social homes

THE council’s director of housing has issued an assurance that turning around vacant local authority housing is a top priority.  Anne Haugh made her comments following concerns raised by Councillor Pat Burke over two properties in Whitegate that have been vacant for up to 12 months. Councillor Burke told the November meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District that frustration over the delay in getting new tenants in, in the middle of a housing crisis, had prompted him to table the motion.  “We are all aware of the housing crisis,” he said. “It seems the process is so slow if a house can remain vacant for 12 months. I understand that there are energy retrofit schemes and that type of thing undertaken, but 12 months to leave a house vacant when we’re in a housing crisis drove me to put down the motion. This is not particularly anyone’s fault, but I’m wondering if the delay is down to funding or the …

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Lynch disappointed at motion stalemate

COUNCILLOR Ian Lynch has expressed “bitter disappointment” at Clare County Council’s decision not to debate his motion, relating to the purchase of houses by Clare County Council on the Beál an Inbhir estate in Kilrush. It was the first time in many decades that a sitting councillor was stopped from having their motion debated. “It’s extremely disappointing that a decision has been made without being privy to the full facts. Legal advice was sought on the motion and opinion was formed based on one side of the available information,” he claimed. “At Monday’s meeting, I asked for the members to hear my claim that the legal advice was incorrect but members chose not to give me the opportunity to stand behind my motion. The removal of my motion denied me the right of raising genuine concerns in relation to how these houses are being purchased. By removing the notice from the agenda, I was further denied the opportunity to amend …

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