Stanley says ‘national emergency’ will be exacerbated by Government’s new rent measures
Laois TD Brian Stanley has described the ongoing housing crisis as a “national emergency”, saying that Government’s new rent measures will “exacerbate” the crisis.
Outlining the situation in the Dáil this week, the Independent Republican TD said: “The situation is a housing emergency; everybody accepts that now, with 15,500-plus in homeless accommodation and huge waiting lists for social housing.”
Using his own county as an example, Deputy Stanley said Laois “has a fairly good record for social housing” but still has a housing waiting list of “1,600 households.”
Deputy Stanley said “low Government targets and projections are missed by a country mile,” adding that there is “a huge need for investment” in infrastructure and water, which he said “are falling way behind.”
The Laois TD stressed the importance of people above the income limit for social housing being unable to purchase an affordable house or get a cost-rental property, saying this demographic “is being left behind” and “have no options.”
Deputy Stanley went on to say that the people in question are “trapped forever in private rented accommodation with no control over the rent they are charged,” saying some families “are paying more than half their income” to landlords.
The Independent Republican then hit out at the Government’s new rent measures, which he said “will force measures through this House that will drive already skyrocketing prices into the air. The Government shows no regard for struggling renters, or else it seems to miss the point.
“New apartments will not be covered by the 2% rent cap that is supposed to bring prices down. Is the Government kidding? A landlord with three or fewer homes can continue to charge what they like and continue with no-fault evictions.
“When a tenancy ends voluntarily due to a tenant buying a house, moving into a social house or going to another rented home, the landlord can charge what is called “market rent.” This means they can follow the already galloping rents that are there.
“What are students to do? They seem to have been forgotten. They are going to return in September. What are they facing come September and the September after that? The prices they are being charged are astronomical. We need to do something for students.
“We must bring in proper rent limits and increase the supply of cost-rental and affordable housing. We must also step up the tenant in situ scheme and invest in critical infrastructure such as water supply and electricity to ensure new homes can be brought onstream.”
€170,000 allocated to three Laois schools under Safe Routes to School programme
€170,000 has been allocated to three Laois schools under the Government’s Safe Routes to School programme. Both Emo NS and St Fiacc’s NS, Graiguecullen, received €60,000, while St Paul’s NS, Mountmellick, received €50,000.
The programme is designed to give students “safer and healthier options for getting to school” by funding small- and large-scale projects such as enhancing access to the school grounds, accelerating delivery of walking, cycling, and wheeling infrastructure on key access routes to schools, and expanding the amount of cycle and scooter parking available at schools.
The Government is reporting “a 17% reduction in journeys to school by car, with students shifting their journeys to walking, cycling, scooting, or taking public transport instead” across the 412 schools nationwide that are currently active in the programme.
Laois Fine Gael TD Willie Aird said the investment would be “making travelling to school safer in County Laois,” and said it has been “great to see such high demand for this scheme” in the county.
“This scheme is not only good for students, but also good for the environment,” Deputy Aird said, adding his congratulations to the three successful schools “for their hard work on implementing this project.”
20% of private cars in Laois are 15 years old, with Motor Finance company calling for ‘more affordability in the used car market’
Almost 20% of the private cars on the roads of Laois are more than 15 years old, according to new analysis from Close Brothers Motor Finance Ireland.
Of the 39,481 cars across the county, 7766 (19.67%) have 2010 plates or older. This compares to a national average figure of 20.88% of cars being more than fifteen years old.
With the UN Environment Programme arguing that “ageing cars are bogging down the battle against climate change,” there is concerns that these older vehicles could also be leading to “greater CO2 emissions across the county.”
According to EU data, pre-2010 vehicles emit on average 140 grams of CO2 per/km, compared to 81 grams for newer vehicles.
Close Brothers Motor Finance Ireland say that “with the average vehicle in Ireland travelling around 16,000km per year according to the CSO, older vehicles in Laois could be contributing to an extra 458kg per annum in CO2 emissions.”
Older cars also have more of an impact on air quality, with Ireland’s Environment Protection Agency warned last year that the country might fall short of WHO air quality targets.
Responding to the data, Peter Pedlow, Director of Sales at Close Brothers Motor Finance Ireland, has called for more affordability in the used car market.
“Moves towards making driving more sustainable over recent years mean that newer cars are much cleaner and much more efficient than older vehicles. It remains the case however that used car sales far outstrip new car sales in Ireland.
“It’s crucial then that more is done to allow people to buy newer, cleaner and better quality used vehicles. As it stands nearly a fifth of cars across (Ireland) are 15 or more years old and that’s having a real impact on the climate and on air quality.
“The finance sector needs to do more to bring better vehicles to market by backing dealers and taking away some of the risks they face when it comes to vehicles depreciating in price.”
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