Jimmy Dignam, the Workers’ Party candidate in Dublin North West, responded this morning (Wednesday) to figures from a study on homelessness carried out by Focus Ireland, saying: ‘These figures clearly give the lie to any notion of recovery in working class areas.”
Dignam continued: “The Workers’ Party recently sought a breakdown of the number of homeless people by area from Dublin City Council, who were unable to provide us with this information. Unfortunately, the results of this study come as no surprise to working class communities across Dublin”
“Joan Burton’s claims of recovery ring hollow when her own constituency has the highest level of homeless families in the study. Unfortunately the Labour Party is now more concerned with protecting landlords and developers than the rights of working class people to a home.”
“ 29% of the families identified came from the Ballymun/Finglas area, the second highest level identified, after Blanchardstown/Mulhuddart. ‘The study shows the impact of homelessness on working class communities and young mothers in particular. The high figure for Ballymun and Finglas comes as no surprise to me unfortunately”, said the Workers’ Party candidate
“The shocking stories about young homeless families I hear on a daily basis are borne out in the figures in this study. Many parents, particularly young women, tell me that they are forced to travel huge distances on a number of different buses every day, just to bring their children to school. The emotional toll on many parents is appalling, some of whom are forced to split their families up in order to ensure that they have a roof over their heads.’
Dignam concluded by saying, ‘the housing crisis is among the main issues in this election and will continue to be so after it. The Workers’ Party calls for the immediate introduction of rent controls and a minimum €2billion annual investment in public housing to solve the crisis.