We are calling on Minister Eoghan Murphy to resign.

His proposed “solutions” to the housing crisis have demonstrated that Minister Murphy is woefully out of touch with the problems faced by tens of thousands of Irish people. 

Some stats on the housing crisis in Ireland

• In 2018 housing budget the Minister targeted 3,000 exits from Homelessess for that year. This has not been met and in fact, the figure has increased. According to Focus Ireland there are at least 10,305 homeless people in Ireland. This is compared to 7,941 when Murphy took office.
• Almost 1 in 5 households now live in a privately rented home compared to 1 in 10 ten years ago.
• The number of homeless families has increased by 268% since March 2015. More than one in three people in emergency accommodation is a child.
• The over-reliance on the private sector continues with “help-to-buy” and “affordable” schemes that drive up competition in the market and do little to stabilise rent costs (in Dublin the so-called “affordable” homes can be upwards of €300k.) Additionally the government plans to spend €1billion on HAP which will place further strain on the private rental market (source: Irish Times)

Ireland needs rent control and high quality public housing close to local amenities, not longer tenant notice periods,  “CoLiving” spaces or homeless “hubs.” This problem will not be solved by the private sector.

Minister Murphy seems incapable or unwilling to apply real, sustainable and effective solutions to one of the biggest challenges facing Irish society today and thus, for the sake of the country, should step down.