Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow, John Brady, has launched a scathing attack on the Government for its total failure to properly resource local authorities, resulting in the disgraceful abandonment of public homes in the midst of the most severe housing crisis in the history of the State.
Deputy Brady’s remarks follow the release of shocking FOI data to Sinn Féin by Wicklow County Council, which reveal that a staggering 108 Council homes currently lie boarded up across the county—1 in every 3 of which has been left empty for over a year.
Speaking on the scandal, Deputy Brady said:
“There is absolutely nothing more offensive—nothing more galling—for the thousands of families living through this housing emergency than to walk past a good home left to rot. Across the state there are at least 2,656 vacant council homes right now, and over 750 of these are lying unused, boarded up, for over a year. These are not derelict shells. These are houses that should be filled with life—families around kitchen tables, children growing up with stability and dignity. Instead, those children are growing up in cramped hotel rooms, robbed of their childhoods. That is not just shameful, it is immoral.”
“I am beyond fed up with this Government’s pathetic excuses. Every time they’re asked why homes are lying empty, they blame someone else. The truth is this: these homes are empty because of deliberate underfunding, bureaucratic madness, and a total absence of urgency or care from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Wicklow County Council is making significant progress in re-letting works when the resources are there, but their hands are tied. The funding they receive from the government to carry these works out is quite frankly an insult. It is asking them to complete an enormous job on a shoestring budget.”
“This is not just a Wicklow issue—it is happening in communities across the country. In every town and village, you will find boarded-up houses that attract dumping, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. They scar neighbourhoods, demoralise residents, and symbolise this Government’s ongoing betrayal of working people.”
“Wicklow County Council is being hamstrung. It is being asked to do an impossible job with crumbs. Six of the homes currently boarded up have been empty for over five years. That is a scandal. The Government claims to fund re-letting works, but the figures tell the real story—just €874 per vacant home in the county is being allocated. That’s a slap in the face, given that the average cost of returning a home to use in returning a home to use in 2022 was over €21,000.”
“Let’s be very clear—these empty homes are not an accident. They are the direct result of government policy. They are what happens when you treat housing as a commodity and not a human right. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael cared about ordinary people, about young couples trying to build a life, or children being raised in hotels, then no public home would be left vacant for years.”
“It is appalling that in Wicklow today, grown adults are crammed into their parents’ box rooms while the house next door lies boarded up. It is disgraceful that young people are forced to emigrate, not because they want to see the world, but because they have no hope of affording a home in the community they grew up in. And it is heart-breaking that children are walking home from school today, not to a front door of their own, but to a shared hotel room.”
“Under a Sinn Féin Government, this would end. We would not tolerate long-term vacancy. We would cut through the red tape, we would invest properly in our local authorities, and we would restore these homes to the people. Every single boarded-up home would be treated like the emergency it is. We will not rest until these homes are back in use and families are given the dignity of a place to call home.”