The chair of the EU Parliament’s Housing Crisis Committee said she was surprised by the revelation
Newly built houses (file photo)(Image: Getty)
Ireland hasn’t properly utilised EU funds for housing despite having one of the most severe crises in the bloc, it has been revealed.
Chair of the EU Parliament’s Housing Crisis Committee, Irene Tinagli, said she was “surprised” that Ireland has “not been particularly active in using European funds for housing”. Under the 2021-2027 budget, the EU has mobilised more than €43 billion for housing and building renovations under the European Affordable Housing Plan.
Ms Tingali said these funds are utilised by countries that are interested and willing, adding: “Ireland hasn’t been using these funds as much as other member states have, so we will also look into how we can improve accessibility to these funds.”
The Italian MEP said Ireland has been a good user of cohesion funds in the past, and questioned whether a “lack of coordination and governance” is preventing the use of these funds. She and six other members of the committee finished a three-day fact-finding mission to Dublin to better understand the city’s housing crisis.
This included Irish MEPs Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Ciaran Mullooly and Luke Ming Flanagan. During the visit they examined newly built accommodation units for homeless people with Focus Ireland, housing projects managed by the Iveagh Trust and of the city’s newest suburbs, Cherrywood.
Pictured at the site visit to Cherrywood. L-R: David Murphy, Director Development of Hines, Ian Lydon, Managing Director Hines Real Estate Ireland, MEP Irene Tinagli (S&D, Italy) – chair, MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (S&D, Ireland), MEP Georgiana Teodorescu (ECR, Romania), MEP Marco Falcone (EPP, Italy), MEP Marko Vešligaj (S&D, Croatia). Photo by Kevin McFeely FLY media(Image: Kevin McFeely | FLY media)
Speaking after the fact-finding mission, Ms Tingali said she discovered that Ireland’s capital is “one of the most severe” in terms of prices compared to other EU cities. She said “regular people” have not been able to keep up with the rise in prices, adding: “Affordability is at the core of the housing crisis. The last few days in Ireland, we met people face to face to see what the issues are here and what is being done to tackle them.
“Too many people earn too much for social housing but too little for today’s rents. Families and young people bear the brunt of the housing crisis and lone parents are particularly at risk. Young people find it difficult to leave their family home and make important life decisions.”
The MEP said “the solutions are out there” and to meet demand and tackle the affordability gap Ireland must build homes across the full spectrum, including social housing, subsidised rental and “genuinely affordable houses and apartments”.
Ms Tingali said it’s also important that local authorities have the power and authority to intervene when needed, which was echoed by Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. He said Ireland should have directly elected mayors that can drive housing policy, which works well in many European cities such as Barcelona.
The Dublin MEP added: “I would be an advocate for a directly elected mayor in Dublin, in Galway, in Cork and I know we have one in Limerick, and to have those powers and civic leadership to find localized solutions to the issues.
“Because if we’re writing a national government, national government has to provide a national plan, not a localized plan. When it comes to regulation of short-term lets, some areas of the country are going to be horrified, other areas like Dublin will really welcome it, so, so that’s really what we’re talking about.”
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