New breakdown shows just who is getting Wexford council houses – ‘There's a real false narrative out there'
You won't have to look too far online to find allegations that foreign nationals arriving into Ireland are being bumped up the queue for social housing at the expense of Irish people who may have been on the local authority housing list for years.
It's something that was put to the Wexford councillor on several occasions, but it simply didn't match with his experience on the ground.
Following several requests and follow ups with Wexford County Council's housing section, Cllr Forde obtained figures which provide a breakdown of the local authority's own-build social housing allocation.
While the figures don't account for the sizeable chunk of social housing provided by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), they do provide a clear pattern in relation to where council houses are going.
The figures show that of 3,325 Wexford County Council built houses allocated since 2013, 2,773 (or 83%) went to Irish nationals. The next highest allocation went to people from the EEA (European Economic Area) with 404 (or 12%).
Applicants from the UK accounted for 39 allocations (or 1%), while 109 houses (3.3%) were allocated to those from outside of the European Economic Area.
It was also pointed out that all of these applicants, over a 12 year period, would have been subject to the same criteria and waiting times.
For Cllr Forde, it was important to bust some of the myths circulating online.
"I've been looking for these figures for quite a while,' he said. 'There's a narrative out there on social media that foreign nationals are coming into the country and taking social houses and getting them quicker than Irish people. A lot of people have fallen into the trap of believing this.
"The figures show that, for the past 12 years, the vast majority of houses have gone to Irish nationals and that reflects my experience on the ground, working with a vast majority of Irish families on housing.
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"At the end of the day, foreign nationals are entitled to apply for housing here, as they should be. Many come and contribute greatly to our communities and work hard. They are entitled to apply for housing supports. But they are also held to the same criteria as everybody else.'
Cllr Forde noted an influx of people coming from overseas were working their way through the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS), but stated this was completely different and had no bearing on social housing allocation.
"In Sinn Féin we've called for the IPAS system to be abolished on several occasions,' he said. 'It's not good for the people using the system and the state should be taking the lead rather than it being a cash cow. There's huge money to be made in that system at the moment. I don't think people should be making money of the back of vulnerable people arriving into Ireland.'
Returning to the housing allocation figures, Cllr Forde says that the most shocking thing about them was that there were only 3,325 houses allocated over 12 years, although he did conceded that the figures don't include housing provided by AHBs, which accounts for a large chunk of social housing.
"I'm waiting on further figures in relation to the breakdown of the allocations from AHBs too,' he said. 'But I would believe that the allocation of houses by AHBs closely mirrors that of Wexford County Council's own-builds.
"I think we should be pushing for more Wexford County Council own-builds as well,' he added. 'We need to be more ambitious in that regard and shouldn't be so reliant on AHBs and other developers. We need to start rezoning and identifying land to build houses and be more proactive in that regard."
Regardless, Cllr Forde believes that there's a misdirected anger on social media and he hopes that these figures provide some clarity.
"The narrative that's out there is false,' he said. 'I'd say the government is very happy with it. It deflects from the real problems – the shortage of housing supply, spiralling cost of living, lack of homeless services. People are venting their anger in the wrong places, aiming it at vulnerable minority groups instead of at the government and government policy. Lack of supply and lack of proper policy is the issue and that's down to the government.'
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