LAST UPDATE | 11 Jun 2022

HOUSING IS THE government’s “biggest failure”, the Social Democrats leadership told party members at its national conference this afternoon.

Free childcare, a three year ban on rent increases and the immediate introduction of a vacant property tax are among proposals put forward at the Social Democrats conference this weekend.

The party is holding its national conference today – the first time it has held an in-person conference since 2019. 

The Social Democrats are currently hovering at the 4% polling figure, according to the latest Red C poll, just above Labour at 3%.

Addressing the conference, party leaders’ Catherine Murphy and Roísín Shortall said that “things like housing; healthcare and childcare should never be mere commodities only available to those on highest incomes”.

“This is why the State must play an active role – consistently and decisively, but for too long, the State has outsourced its responsibilities to the private market.”

The rising cost-of-living is the number one issue on the political agenda of late, and not just for the Government.

Shorthall said that “housing costs are out of control, childcare costs are equivalent to a mortgage and energy prices are skyrocketing.”

She said that people “are increasingly going into debt to pay for necessities and more and more people are at serious risk of poverty” and measures must be targeted at people who need them the most.

The Social Democrats are calling for the introduction of a further 15% cut in public transport fares to incentivise the use of public transport (something that is already widely tipped to be in this year’s Budget 2023).

They’re also seeking to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.

The party wants a €300 refundable tax credit for workers on incomes below €50,000.

Free childcare for all and a three year rent increase ban is also on its list.

Co-leader Murhpy said that “one of the most basic requirements in a functioning society is the provision of secure and affordable housing”.

“It is supposedly the biggest priority for government. It’s also its biggest failure,” Murphy said.

What kind of society are we building – when affordability is now defined by the government as being €450,000 in Dublin and €400,000 in Cork and Galway. Do they know a mortgage at those amounts requires incomes of at least €114,000? What planet are they on?

“We must immediately introduce a tax to bring the 90,000 vacant homes across the country back into use. We must end the greed of land speculation, a major driver of housing costs, by finally controlling the cost of development land,” she said.

Shorthall added that the health service is in “perpetual crisis”, while Murphy described disability supports as “fragmented and threadbare”.

On climate change, Shorthall said that “if we want to meet out targets, large-scale structural changes are urgently required that only the State can make”.

She mentioned changes “like restricting the development of new data centres, facilitating the speedy development of off-shore wind energy, incentivising sustainable farming, investing in major public transport infrastructure, and introducing a retrofitting scheme that is actually affordable for the people who need it most.”

In terms of Ukraine, the party is reiterating its call for Government to expel the Russian ambassador to Ireland.

Another motion calls on the conference to recognise the cultural significance and unique strength that Irish neutrality provides “in allowing us to be a respected and honest broker on the world stage”.

Additional reporting by Lauren Boland