Pringle: Government’s Housing for All has been an ‘incredible failure’

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 6th March 2024

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has slammed the Government’s Housing for All policy, saying housing targets are “so ridiculously low” that they wouldn’t make a dent in homelessness, even if they were met.

Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “It is very clear that ‘Housing for All’, the Government’s strategy to address the housing crisis and end homelessness, has been an incredible failure. Since the publication of Housing for All, the number of homeless families in the North West alone has risen by 85 per cent. Eighty-five per cent is a shocking figure, and it demonstrates the absolute incompetence of the Housing Minister, as does the fact that a record number of homelessness was recorded in the month of January, with a total of 13,531 people accessing emergency accommodation nationwide.

“This cannot go on. The situation is absolutely dire and somehow keeps getting worse, while the Minister hides behind Housing for All and housing targets that are set so ridiculously low that they wouldn’t make a dent on the level of homelessness that we are currently seeing, even if they were met,” he said.

The deputy was speaking in support of the Labour Motion re Housing Targets and Regulation and its calls on government to increase housing targets significantly.

Deputy Pringle said the situation is much worse than it seems because monthly homeless figures published by the government do not show ‘hidden homelessness’, such as people who are sofa-surfing or sharing accommodation. However, he said that perhaps opposition are looking at it the wrong way.

The deputy said: “We are looking at the housing policy as being a way to provide houses for people who are homeless, what you would think it would be. But maybe when you look at it from the government’s point of view, that the housing policy is providing money for private developers, it’s actually working very well.”

He said if Government were interested in providing housing it would raise income levels for housing list eligibility, saying, “There are a huge number of people in Donegal on an income of between 32,000 and 50, 60, 70, 80,000 who can’t provide housing for themselves, won’t be able to provide housing for themselves, and are totally left to the private market in terms of providing for housing.”

He said Government wants to keep down the figures to “make it look like they are meeting the need.”

Deputy Pringle said: “In 2023, North West Simon provided homeless prevention support to over 220 households of 266 adults accompanied by 207 children. I can’t imagine how the absence of a home and this instability is impacting on these children. These people and their situation often get lost in a discussion about numbers.”

He said: “Last Friday was Irish Traveller Ethnicity Day and I think that in celebrating the culture and the formal recognition of the ethnic group, it is also important to consider all the ways the community has been failed and left behind.

“The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 obliges local authorities to draw up five-year Traveller Accommodation Programmes. However, since its introduction, local authorities have consistently failed to complete these programmes. As well as this, year after year, local authorities across the country have failed to draw down funds earmarked for Traveller-specific accommodation.

“The fact that this has become the norm for many local authorities is disgraceful and shows that Traveller-specific accommodation is not being prioritised in the way it should be. The allocated budget for Traveller-specific accommodation is already far lower than it should be and for it not to be drawn down completely is unacceptable. Many Traveller households are forced to live in unsafe, unsanitary and overcrowded conditions and I would urge the Minister to work with Traveller organisations in addressing this very serious situation.”

The deputy concluded: “I hope that in trying to create a more fair and equitable society for everyone in this country that we ensure nobody is left behind in the future. And that’s what a housing policy should do. It should provide for Travellers, it should provide for Roma, it should provide for homeless people, which it’s not doing, and it should provide for those people that are in dire need of help and support, rather than provide for builders and developers in the private sector to make money.”