LIMERICK Council is to write to the Department of Housing to request that the income limit to apply for social housing be increased to reflect the limit for Dublin, Cork, and Galway.
Proposing the motion at the recent full meeting of the local authority, Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan said the current limit in Limerick is €35,000, compared to €40,000 in Galway.
She said that, over the last Census, the median household income for Limerick is €57,000, compared to €58,000 in Galway.
“There’s not a huge difference between Limerick and Galway, and along with this we know that Limerick City has experienced some of the highest increases in rent in Ireland last year. The reality is that we currently have households on €36,000 who are not eligible for social housing and are really struggling,” she said.
She said she was contacted by many people living on between €35,000 and €40,000 who are not eligible for social housing despite needing it, noting “it’s awful having to turn away families because they are just above that income threshold”.
Seconding Cllr O’Donovan’s motion, Cllr Shane Hickey-O’Mara (SD) said the Council needs to appeal to “all the lads in the Oireachtas”.
“The housing crisis is permeating every single aspect of our society at the moment. Nobody is safe from it and that we would have a lower threshold than other cities is disgraceful,” he insisted.
Independent councillor Brigid Teefy also added her support, saying that “people won’t get a mortgage either so they are stuck in a no man’s land”.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme