People Before Profit-Solidarity is holding its ‘think-in’ in Dublin ahead of the new Dáil term beginning next week.
The party, which has five TDs, will focus on housing and special education in particular.
Spokesperson on Housing and Further Education Richard Boyd Barrett said the housing “crisis” requires a particular focus, adding that the Coalition has had to “admit” to the “failure” of its housing strategy following the Housing Commission report.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said the Government’s plan was “not even close to planning” the housing that is needed and that it had failed to address the “shameful flow of people into homelessness…and to deliver anything near the amount of social and affordable housing that is required…”
He said PBP-Solidarity wants local authorities to have a “proactive approach towards identifying all vacant and derelict properties and there should be a use it or lose it policy”.
He said there are circumstances where vacancy may be justified because of probate issues, or “people who are gone to nursing homes” although in the case of nursing homes “there should be incentives to try to bring those houses into use”.
He noted that census data shows there are “about 60,000 homes that have been vacant for the last three Census” and a lot of this is “people sitting on these as assets” and these need to be brought back into use through the use of compulsory purchase powers if necessary.
Mr Boyd Barrett said the think-in would be calling for the output of social and affordable housing to be “doubled,” the eviction ban to be reinstated, and rent controls to bring rents down to affordable levels “related to people’s actual income.”
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As well as housing, Deputy Boyd Barrett said they would be discussing the issue of special needs and special education with parents, teachers, and campaigners at their gathering.
He said they have a Dáil motion next week “demanding urgent action to deal with the fact there are 120 vulnerable children with special needs who don’t have school places.
“But also the absolute disastrous situation … of 10,000 children waiting for assessments; 100,000 children with special needs waiting for therapies..”
He said the party would be having a briefing with Oxfam about the issue of wealth and corporate tax, in the context of what he called the Apple “scandal” and as part of this, PBP-Solidarity’s plan to abolish the “despised and unfair austerity tax, the Universal Social Charge…that was introduced and was never scrapped.”
Mr Boyd Barrett said the party is in favour of a “left-wing” government to counter Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s “dominance” of the last 100 years, though he denied he had ever been in favour a Sinn Féin-led left government, rather one which might “include Sinn Féin”.
He said the party’s position has been that it is a “mistake” that Sinn Féin has not ruled out the prospect of coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
He added that Sinn Féin has “drifted” towards the centre and he was in favour of putting pressure on Sinn Féin to “stay left” and not to keep open either option of going into coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
