Mairéad Farrell: Outraged over Galway's Housing Crisis
Mairéad Farrell challenges the Minister over what she calls a worsening housing crisis in Galway, citing thousands of homeless children, young renters paying over £2,000 a month, and a lack of housing supply. She says the situation is a man-made disaster caused by successive Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael governments and demands action.
What she said: Farrell, who has served as an elected representative in Galway City for 12 years, told the Minister she is outraged at his handling of housing. She highlighted families spending Christmass in emergency accommodation, young people who feel they will never be able to buy a home, and renters paying more than £2,000 a month with no prospect of affordability in Galway.
Political context and consequences: Farrell framed the shortage as a policy failure, not a natural event, blaming successive Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael administrations for failing to meet housing supply demand. She warned that without substantive change there is no supply for older people or young people in Galway, and that the human cost will continue to grow.
What she said: Farrell, who has served as an elected representative in Galway City for 12 years, told the Minister she is outraged at his handling of housing. She highlighted families spending Christmass in emergency accommodation, young people who feel they will never be able to buy a home, and renters paying more than £2,000 a month with no prospect of affordability in Galway.
Political context and consequences: Farrell framed the shortage as a policy failure, not a natural event, blaming successive Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael administrations for failing to meet housing supply demand. She warned that without substantive change there is no supply for older people or young people in Galway, and that the human cost will continue to grow.
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Transcript
The Minister talks about a strong economy. A strong economy is not made up of thousands of homeless children who are facing Christmas after Christmas in emergency accommodation. A strong economy is not made up of young renters who can't afford to buy a home and feel that they will never have the ability to buy a home under this government. A strong economy is certainly not made up of all those people who feel that they never will have a future in living in Galway City, a place that they are from because they simply cannot afford to rent, they simply cannot afford to buy and there is no prospect of ever building a home in Galway City. I have to say, Minister, I am outraged at the disastrous way that you have handled this housing crisis. I have been an elected representative in Galway City for the last 12 years and in those 12 years I have never seen the housing crisis as bad as it is now under your watch and that is the reality of the situation. I am constantly talking to young people, young people who are saying to me that they are paying £2,000 a month in rent or over £2,000 a month in rent, that they have no option to be able to buy, to be able to provide a future and a stable environment that they wish to do for their young children. They can't do that because of the policies of this government. This isn't a natural disaster, this is a man-made disaster by successive governments of Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael, successive governments that continue to fail to meet the demand that is needed in terms of housing supply for the people of Galway. I was on the streets of Galway yesterday, I was talking to people on the streets and on the streets and there was one thing I wanted to say. There is no housing supply on the streets of Galway as long as there is no housing available to buy a car in Galway at the moment. There is no supply for old people, there is no supply for young people and it can be said that there is no supply for old people in Galway at the moment. These policies as a result of successive governments of Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael throughout the years, it is time for them to do something to stop this disaster.