Murphy lists ‘successes’ in first year amid SF backlash
HOUSING Minister Eoghan Murphy has briefed Fine Gael TDs on his achievements since taking office amid an expected onslaught from opposition parties.
Sinn Féin is contemplating a motion of no confidence in the minister, who will mark his first anniversary at the Department of Housing tomorrow. Over the past 12 months the number of homeless families has continued to rise, while house prices and rents have soared.
In a note that was circulated to party colleagues, he acknowledges that having more than 9,000 people in emergency accommodation amounts to “a crisis that is a Government priority of the highest order”.
But the five-page document also claims the ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ initiative “is working – in fact it is ahead of schedule”.
“While it is true to say that we don’t yet have a completions number (the CSO will begin producing this next quarter), all housing supply indicators are showing significant increases in supply,” the note says.
One of the metrics used to back up this claim is the number of ESB connections in the past 12 months, even though this has been widely disputed as a suitable measure of progress.
It comes as Sinn Féin hired a mobile billboard to drive around Dublin with the minister’s image and a list of problems in the housing sector.
The tagline reads: “Don’t blame me, it’s just Murphy’s Law.”
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the party was weighing up using its private members’ time in the Dáil to put forward a motion of no confidence in the Housing Minister before TDs leave for their summer break next month.
“Twelve months on and no review of ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ has been published. No vacant homes strategy has been published. Landlords exiting the market is now the biggest cause of family homelessness. No vacant homes tax has been introduced. And the number of real social houses to be delivered in 2018 will actually be lower than in 2017,” Mr Ó Broin said.
The most recent figures show there were 9,652 people in emergency accommodation in April, a slight drop of 29 compared with the previous month.