Cork North Central Workers’ Party candidate Cllr. Ted Tynan has said that neither the present government nor Fianna Fail will embark on a major social housing construction programme because the parties in question are still under the thumb of developers.

Cllr. Ted Tynan

Cllr. Tynan said that a local authority led housing construction programme would immediately create thousands of jobs for building workers, boost the local economy and in a short time begin to seriously dent the housing waiting lists.

He said that the main parties were manufacturing any number of excuses against such a building programme but the real reason was that it would upset these parties’ developer and speculator friends.

“Housing is a human right”, said Cllr. Tynan. “it must be provided to meet public needs, not the desires and demands of the investors whose eyes light up with euro signs every time they hear the word ‘housing’ mentioned.”

“A massive social housing scheme, building high-quality homes to meet the demand and plan for the future makes perfect sense from an economic and social perspective. For too long families have been bombarded with terms such as “the housing ladder”, “starter homes” and “market values” when what they want is a decent roof over their heads and an end to the soul-destroying waiting and uncertainty”, said the Workers’ Party councillor.