Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien
This morning.
Update:
The housing minister’s plan, which goes to Cabinet tomorrow, seeks to speed-up the assessment and refurbishment of both State and privately owned large vacant properties which could house refugees.
It is understood that 529 buildings are currently under consideration and more than 100 are viewed as having the capacity to come on-stream in the “very short term”.
It is believed Mr O’Brien’s memo seeks to streamline the management of how such large vacant properties can be processed and become operational.
An inter-departmental committee has already been established to oversee the management of the plan.
Earlier…
Via RTÉ News:
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is to bring a number of options to Cabinet today on medium and long-term housing options in response to the refugee crisis.
RTÉ News understands that this includes an expanded “voids programme” whereby vacant social homes will be brought back into use.
The measures will also include an expanded acquisition programme where local authorities will have greater flexibilities to acquire certain homes.
The minister will also consider using emergency powers, already available to him under existing legislation, whereby certain planning and procurement requirements can be exempted, where required, to speed up delivery in emergency situations.
Vacant social homes to be used to house Ukrainian refugees (RTE)
Meanwhile…
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Government is not contemplating a cap on the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving into Ireland.
Mr Martin said Ireland’s efforts were part of a Europe-wide response to the crisis, and while the country is not a military power, it can offer humanitarian assistance to protect women, children and vulnerable people.
He said Ireland’s response is still in the emergency stage, and it must be across all Government departments and agencies to ensure optimal co-ordination of the crisis.
It cannot be left to just one agency alone, he added.
Govt not contemplating cap on Ukrainian refugees – Taoiseach (RTE)
he and Eoghan Murphy could have done any of these things at any point over the last decade. Good that we’re helping refugees but I don’t want this shower to get the credit. It’s like someone watching a kitchen burn down and only getting off their bum once the neighbours can see the smoke.
Neither of them care, I know a family where both parents are working on a very good salaries, currently renting, have to move out next month and are likely to end up in homeless accommodation. They could easily afford the monthly repayments on a €600,000 mortgage over a 20 year period but the issue is supply, same with renting.
Literally nowhere to go, have tried to buy about 10 houses over the last 18 months and falls through every single time, even had a significant chunk of cash but nope, cannot find anywhere.
The current government failed a long time ago, now they are trying to paint themselves as heroes.
voids has been around since 2014;
Under this scheme, exchequer funding has been provided since 2014 to support local authorities in preparing vacant local authority owned properties for re-letting.
2014: 2,333
2015: 2,829
2016: 2,308
2017: 1,757
2018: 1,765
2019: 1,503
2020: 3,607
2021: 2,425
Total: 18,527
https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/0906a-other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme
I can see it now tent city
Maybe the solution should be like after WW2 in Britain
Modular homes flat pack put up in a week
I only hope our government is humiliated on the international stage as they totally deserve that
They have this country wrecked
Maybe a new covid strain is here ryanacron
Shipping container homes- €60K from Dundalk- they look great and as they are made out of metal, rock solid. They arrive fully kitted.
From memory I think they have a twenty year lifespan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tARTC-yUboA
Saw ones for the garden modular 3bed all with fittings but flat pack for €10 grand
But to put them togeather now you are talking
That’s when the gouging starts
Every greedy greasy palm from plumbers to carpenters
We really are our own worst enemy
It’s worth remembering when Ireland pats itself on the back over its generosity towards people in crisis, in 2019 the four FG MEPs including Mairead McGuinness,voted against a motion in the EU Parliament, to provide more resources to rescue drowning refugees in the Med.
Never not at it.
Some of his pals must be making a killing on this.
Ridiculous man.
“The minister will also consider using emergency powers, already available to him under existing legislation, whereby certain planning and PROCUREMENT requirements can be exempted”
And that is the key word to watch. If we learned anything during the pandemic, it is that there is nothing like a good emergency to brush aside the procurement rules.
https://www.rte.ie/news/investigations-unit/2022/0419/1293110-the-councillor-the-council-and-the-house-purchases/
Procurement rules don’t make too much of a difference either.
Yes well- such occurrences will become the norm for sure. And as planning is brown envelope central at the best of times, expect similar sharp practices there.
I have never come across anyone as intensely _____ as you soq. What’s it like to be reviled? I guess you like it,
first it was Duncan, now SOQ, are you just here for the slagging ?
nobody is reviled here. People may disagree with each others comments and barb each other for one reason or another but such negative strong feelings don’t come into it. Why would they?
Cato, your posts smell like the bottom of a homeless man’s sleeping bag. Go away & put some more effort into sniffing your own bottom. It would be better than what you’re doing now, you tool.
Putin’s b**ch,express faux outrage over war refuges.
oh well,we had a one day break after he asked pitifully if he should keep posting,the only response was ……
‘In response to the refugee crisis.’
Funny that – we have had a housing crisis for decades yet no such response forthcoming. It’s almost like the people that we elect don’t give a damn about us
Foreigners, Giddy, come under the auspices of the Globalist powers, They’re going to be cared for far better than any Irish people, who have no-one to bat for them, because the politicians they ostensibly vote in to do this are too busy asking “how high?” every time the Globalists shout “jump”.
In fact, the only way you’d get Irish politicians to pay any attention to the problems of the replaceable Irish is if some EUrocrat or Oligarch drew attention to it.
If Billy-goat Gates or Vunder Laying or Nanci Plurisy uttered something about how bad the housing situation is in Ireland, the JCBs would arrive next morning.
This is not going to end well.
Well if they’d like to hand me €1500 a month for each of my rentals they can have as many as they want.
Every man has his price and I’d like to think I’d be doing my bit.
But you’re right.Unlimited migration with inadequate planning always ends in tears.
What happens if large numbers of these migrants suddenly decide free housing and medical cards aren’t such a bad thing after all and decide to stay ?
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ahern-should-lose-perks-over-silly-tv-ad-fg-26688857.html
About the size of your Mittyworld rentals.
It most certainly is not.
I think of how many years the government has pointedly ignored and played down the housing crisis, for the guts of a decade if not more. The only reason they’re bothering their hole now is because of how it will look internationally.
my blood is boiling
Mehole looking a big job in the EU maybe? I wouldn’t put it past him.
Are these measures- voids programme- local authorities having additional powers- exemption of certain planning and procurement requirements- to be used for Ukrainian refugees only, or for ALL in need?
Also- given that countries in closer proximity to Ukraine are far easier to relocate back to Ukraine once the war is over, who decided that Ireland should take such a high refugee to population ratio?
our politicians decided to take the high numbers. Coveney looking for an EU job once he gets the boot so has to look good in front of the rest of Europe. Whether or not we take that high a number (or even if that many people from Ukraine reach us) remains to be seen.
who decided that Ireland should take such a high refugee to population ratio?
What are you talking about?
What is the breakdown by EU country?
How many other countries have committed to taking in an unlimited number of people?
The ratio is of just 5 million remember.
Are you acknowledging that you made it up?
Unless you can provide evidence of other countries numbers you are (once again) talking through your hat.
…the ‘planning’ comments indicate the same level of understanding and nuance,yeah,brown envelopes abound,the 1980’s called and want the CPO powers back……
What has he made up? He asked a question.
FYI. French housing minister Emmanuelle Wargon told FranceInfo radio the French government was preparing to welcome 100,000 people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Unlimited versus 100,000. Notably, some that 100,000 being welcomed by France could be in transit onto Spain, UK, Ireland etc.
All sorts of figures have been bandied about- from 10k up to 300k- and I say bandied about, because no one seems to know.
Take a half way mark of 150k- how many would that mean for the same ratio to be accepted into Germany, France or Italy?
Total pops of 83 mil, 65 mil and 60 mil respectively.
Cian’s an eejit, a civil servant, I’d say.
All sorts of figures have been bandied about- from 10k up to 300k- and I say bandied about, because no one seems to know.
Yup. Nobody knows how many refugees there will be. There is a war still on. The numbers grow daily.
Irish numbers align with about 1% of the total number of refugees.
Coincidently (not really) Ireland has about 1% of the EU population (5m/448m = 1.1%).
As of 15 April there were 4.8 million Ukrainian refugees in the EU. Ireland’s 1.1% would be .54,000
(https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/timeline-of-ukrainian-refugees-reaching-eu-countries-amid-russian-invasion/)
Yup you got that right K Cavan- there is a nest of them
If the figures quoted by GOVERNMENT are correct then we could be seeing up to 300 000 refugees here in Ireland.
If other larger countries do not take in the same equivalent ratios, then why not?
What possible reason could there be for Ireland having to accommodate so many?
there’s no conspiracy here, SOQ. Just a government that wants to look good in case their careers in Irish politics don’t pan out.
We may not end up taking all that much in the end. Depends on the war, depends on the means of accommodating the refugees etc.
Are you paranoid, like your fash pals on twitter, that they’re going to take your house from you for refugees cos you’ve got spare bedrooms you’re not using?
“Vacant” social homes to be filled with Ukrainians ahead of irish people in need of homes
EVEN More money to local authorities to purchase housing from the private market, competing against private buyers and inflating prices even more – despite the practice having been banned less than 12months ago for exactly this reason (price inflation)
And government looking to bring in more emergency legislation – what could possibly go wrong!
Vile & venal bodies, all. Are they purposfully trying to crash this country?
Good question…
yes, it’s the only possible answer
The country with the worst housing crisis in Europe won’t set a limit on the number if refuges it is going to take in. It is at best incompetence and suggests a government who has no clue what they are doing.
Availability and / of capacity should always be a consideration in such matters, and this is not going to please anyone- not the Irish, and not the refugees.
Never have I seen so many people asking ‘what about our own?’- and the refugees are going to be absolutely miserable stuck out in City West or in a tent in a park somewhere- which is the last thing they need.
Yes, Duncan, they are, as instructed.
Nobody’s accepting a Great Reset if things are going swimmingly.
Dur, dur, dur … dem peoples is tryin to inject me with 5Gs … durrrrr
Cato, is it that you don’t think the Great Reset is an actual agenda? Or that it is being progressed by the richest and most powerful financial and political interests in the world? You tend to reply with gibberish. How about discussing the Great Reset, what it is, and why or if people should be concerned or happy about it?
There’s no hope for someone trying to get on the housing ladder when they are competing against a local authority who can outbid anyone.
this is a regular occurence, even without refugees. A few houses around the corner from Swords County Council building in Fingal snapped up by the local authority a few years ago, still vacant and will now need refurbishment as they’ve been left to sit.
And you’re only telling us about that now?
my newsletter must have been lost in the mail.
really though, there are probably stories like that in every local authority in Ireland. I’ve family in a few places around the country and if someone is in the mood for a grump, local housing is a good one.
It’s nice to see your middle managers do so well
The good people at Gript have an excellent editorial today.
One that not a single Irish national newspaper would ever dream of printing.
You’re being fooled, as always.
https://gript.ie/the-editors-irish-people-deserve-the-same-prioritisation-as-refugees/
This is all very well and good, we can see this happening, but there is some vital information we are not getting…why?
From memory there is a displacement fund of around 10 billion approved by the EU. Problem is, if it is routed through that clown Zelenskyy, very little of it will get to where it is needed.
your memory may be faulty (I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt – it’s probably more lies).
What “displacement fund of around 10 billion approved by the EU” are you talking about?
And why would it be routed through Zelenskyy? sounds like more stuff you made up (i.e. lies)
Given your rude tone- go search for it yourself.
Nobody is under any obligation to educate you.
this.
all day.
every day.
I did search… and came back with nothing.
So I think it is a lie…. but I gave you the opportunity to provide evidence for *your* claim.
I think I was right. Another SOQ lie.
Yeah whatever- if you had to ask in a reasonable tone I wold have posted the link.
It’s called manners?
@SOQ
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ you keep lying… what do you expect?
Because you can’t verify something you reckon it’s a lie then? Maybe you’re not looking in the correct places?
We have no functioing Media, Verbatim. No Democracy can function properly without it. We also have the NGO sector, which has shoved the public aside as the ones who’s views are amplified, in the media, for the politicians to respond to. It’s a closed triangle of Government/Media/NGOs, who all have exactly the same viewpoints, priorities & even alma maters & it’s all Woke, Globalist bullcrap.
I agree we are far too tolerant and willing to accept refugees fleeing Brexit -era Britain. Build the Bull Wall!
Did you know Britain’s got lower inflation than we do?
Irish people are going to leave …. F paying tax to a state that doesn’t care about its CITIZENS
Irish immigrants putting pressure on housing, hospitals, schools?
O’Brien looks like he could house quite a few in that double chin of his. He’s also far too well-dressed to be taken seriously, a narcissistic lightweight, in the political sense only, of course.
So who’s going to build or renovate these houses?
If they were serious, they’d halve the number of college places for arts and replace them with trades apprenticeships and engineering qualifications.
As we all know scottser many moons ago colleges went for university status
The Irish wanted to be professionals with degrees coming out of their arses
Of course trades were beneath them and we had a whole host of eager east Europeans willing to get dirty and work for a few years and live 10 to a house then return back home with enough cash to buy a home for twenty grand mortgage paid in full as paddy had a noose around his neck for 20 years if lucky enough to get on property ladder
Covid of course was a god send
All back home with €330 per week going in to the Irish bank account in PUP payments and a job back home for a second income stream
It’s all gravy
Now the government hope Ukrainian refugees will now replace those workers when the war is over
Sadly the fly in the ointment is thanks to successive Irish governments there is no place to put them