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Ireland has begun the biggest social house building program in a generation, the Taoiseach said.<\/p>\nIreland has begun the biggest social house building program in a generation, the Taoiseach said.<\/p>\n
Leo Varadkar claimed Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s housing policies were \u201cbankrupt\u201d, \u201cempty\u201d and lacked substance as he promised 10-11,000 new social properties for those who cannot afford their own accommodation.<\/p>\n
The country also needs to provide developments for private sale enabling people to buy homes near where they grew up, the Fine Gael leader added.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI believe that public lands should be used for the benefit of all the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also need private housing for people to buy.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to be able to buy a place near where they grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently Mr Varadkar turned the sod at a \u20ac40m development in Cork, the first affordable purchase housing scheme in the country but said he was also aware of the wider challenges.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThis is the biggest social housing program in a generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fianna F\u00e1il leader Micheal Martin told the D\u00e1il the Government was blaming everybody but themselves for homelessness.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cPeople are suffering out there because of the lack of housing in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said parents agreed that their young people had no prospect of owning a home and warned homelessness was rising.<\/p>\n
He characterized the Government\u2019s attitude as: \u201cWe will blame everybody else but ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is your approach to housing and the other key issues facing this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has warned an agreement reached by a group of Dublin city councilors on regenerating O\u2019Devaney Gardens in Dublin cannot be implemented due to funding and legal concerns.<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach said he hoped the council would get on with the mixed development as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cPeople need these houses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former apartment complex near Stoneybatter has been lying derelict since the foundering of a previous agreement to overhaul the area a decade ago.<\/p>\n