Workers Solidarity Movement

Homelessness in Ireland could be solved at a stroke by allowing people without homes to move into the 302,602 empty houses in the country.

That figure comes from the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis. It's the equivalent of half the homes in Dublin, many of the vacants being in ghost estates that developers have been deliberately allowing to fall apart.

This figure reveal that both politicians and capitalist developers have been lying to us. Both have been trying to pretend that the problem is a shortage of supply. They have been looking for additional tax incentives and changes in zoning laws so that more houses are built. In short this amounts to a demand that we subsidise the profits of property developers. For too long capitalism in this state has been based on property developers being given public money, tax incentives and legal changes in return for brown envelopes to councillors and TDs, legal fees for law firms, and advertising fees for the media. Everyone gained in that circle at our expense.

The Construction Industry Federation claimed there were only 40,000 vacant homes, only about 1/8th of the real figure. That scale or mistake cannot be anything other than a deliberate error. The government claimed there were 'only' 100,000 to 140,000 vacant homes, about 1/3 of the real amount. This also seems far to large of an error to be an accident.

The 300,000 vacant homes should immediately be made available for this who need housing. If that is not legislated for people should simply act for themselves and squat them. It's time to bring an end to the cosy cartel that have been using all of us like hamsters on a treadmill to generate profits and bribes for themselves,

WORDS: Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter)