People Before Profit councillors have confirmed they will vote against the Dublin City Council Budget on Monday night due to the inclusion of significant rent hikes for local authority tenants and probable impact on HAP tenants and many Approved Housing Body tenants.
People Before Profit councillors, including Cllr Conor Reddy (Dublin North West) and Cllr Hazel de Nortúin (Dublin South Central), will join CATU and tenants outside City Hall on Monday 24 November to protest the increases.
People Before Profit also confirmed that councillors and members across the City will be organising to inform tenants of the changes, support local campaigns, and build resistance before the planned implementation of the new rents in April.
Speaking after a meeting with CATU and local authority tenants to plan a coordinated response, Cllr Conor Reddy said:
“These rent hikes are unjustifiable. They will hit tenants across the city during a cost of living emergency, push households closer to the edge and leave people worse off at a time when every bill is rising. People Before Profit will not support a budget that includes these measures.”
He added: “We will be organising on the ground in every community we represent. People need to know what is coming and they need the confidence that this can be resisted. We will be joining CATU’s efforts and building as much pressure as possible between now and April.”
Cllr Hazel de Nortúin said: “Tenants are being punished for the failures of government and the Council executive.”
Cllr de Nortúin condemned the decision to target tenants rather than properly fund local authorities or pursue outstanding revenue from developers.
“Tenants who are already stretched to the limit are now expected to plug funding gaps created by decades of government neglect. It is completely unfair. The Council has failed to collect tens of millions in vacant and derelict site levies and developer contributions owed yet it is tenants who are being asked to pay more. That is a political choice and it is the wrong one.”
She added:
“People Before Profit councillors across Dublin will be working with CATU and community groups to fight these proposals. We are already hearing from families who will not be able to absorb these increases. The idea that people living with damp, mould, cold and long delays for repairs should now pay more is outrageous.
“A lone parent on social welfare will see an increase of around 20 euro a month, wiping out recent social welfare rises. Families where adult children remain at home because of the housing crisis will face the heaviest burden. In a household earning around €1,000 per week with two adult children living at home, the increases could run to hundreds of euros per month and destroy any chance to save or build stability.
“These changes also risk pushing people into homelessness when they are no longer able to meet the household contribution”.
Cllr Reddy again criticised central government’s chronic underfunding of local authorities.
“Councils across Ireland are among the poorest funded in Europe. The government is sitting on a massive surplus. It is time to fund councils properly instead of squeezing tenants who are already struggling.”
People Before Profit confirmed it is already speaking to other councillors who oppose the rent hikes and will encourage them to vote against the budget unless the increases are removed.
“These hikes can be defeated,” Cllr de Nortúin said. “The more people who stand up, the harder it will be for the Council executive to force this through. We will work in every community we represent to organise tenants and make that resistance a reality.”