“For all their talk, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent Ireland offer more of the same disastrous policies that have led to the housing crisis in Galway and it is long past time for change”, said People Before Profit Galway West candidate Denman Rooke.
“Across the constituency, we can see the devastating impact of Airbnb’s and short-term rentals which are depriving people of homes and hollowing out our communities from Galway city to rural Connemara,” he said, adding that People Before Profit are calling for a ban on short-term lets and for funding so that councils can enforce the legal restrictions.
“People need homes to live in at affordable rates and for that to happen we need a government that prioritises people over the interests of landlords, property speculators and developers.”
“By-election candidates Cillian Keane of Fianna Fáil and Independent Irelands Noel Thomas have both been on record recently defending the presence of short-term lets in Galway. But with nearly ten times as many short-term lets available in Galway compared to long term rental housing, and 7,500 people on the housing list across Galway city and county, their policies are completely unsustainable,” he said.
“People Before Profit are also calling for a ban on no-fault evictions. As dozens of residents in Ballybane face uncertainty of being evicted from Cúirt Éigis, we need guarantees that people cannot be evicted into homelessness on the whims of landlords and speculators.
“Along with action on short-term lets and evictions, People Before Profit are calling for a state-owned construction company to build social and affordable housing that is based on need rather than developer’s profits. This would reduce costs, bring down prices for buyers and rents for potential tenants and ensure we get a range of housing suitable for everyone including single people, couples, families, elderly, people with disabilities, students and members of the Traveller community” added Mr Rooke.
All these issues and more were due to discussed at a public meeting last night Wednesday in the Ballybane Community Resource Centre. People Before Profit Galway West candidate Denman Rooke spoke alongside residents of Cúirt Éigis and others, on the impacts of the housing crisis and the possible solutions to it.
