Life in Dublin has “literally become unaffordable” with teachers now relocating out of the capital due to “extortionate rent and soaring house prices”, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said.
Ms McDonald said a school in Stillorgan reportedly wrote to parents advising them that six teachers were relocating outside the capital.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Tuesday, Ms McDonald said schools were finding it difficult to recruit replacements while teaching unions were “alarmed”.
[ Una Mullally: We are losing teachers who cannot afford to live hereOpens in new window ]
“They say that difficulties regarding teacher supply are made worse by the fact that teachers cannot set up home in this city. They say the teachers who commute to Dublin are now considering working elsewhere because of the soaring cost of fuel,” she said.
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“They are worried because schools are struggling to get teachers in important subjects like maths and science and many schools are forced to consider asking teachers who have Gaeilge, who don’t have a degree in Irish, to teach the subject.
“If left unchecked, it will have major knock-on effects, being unable to afford a home impacts on teachers’ quality of life, which then affects the ability of schools to deliver at which in turn impacts on the education of our children. It ripples through everything.”
The Sinn Féin leader said the Government could not allow the problem to escalate and asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin if he would meet teachers’ unions to discuss the matter.
Number one social issue
In response, Mr Martin said housing was the “number one social issue” facing the country and that progress was being made in terms of housing supply. He said the target was to get to between 33,000 and 35,000 housing units being built per annum with the expectation that this year 24,600 homes would be built.
He said there had been 22,000 units completed in the year to March, the highest level of completions in any 12-month period. He said 43,000 planning permissions were granted last year which was “a six-fold increase on units granted permission in 2014 and the highest levels of planning permission since 2007″.
“Progress is being made, but it’s not enough to deal with the huge demand that is out there,” he added. “We’re looking at every possible avenue to increase housing supply and to build up the capacity of the industry to build more....”
The Taoiseach also said the Government had introduced a series of legislative measures to protect renters such as rent pressure zones. He said initiatives such as the latest shared equity scheme would be “significant” in helping teachers, gardaí and “a whole range of occupations to access homes in an affordable manner”.
Mr Martin said applications to the scheme had been “very significant” since it opened last week.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the Government’s failure to control high rents had led to record numbers of families in homelessness as the Dáil headed “into the summer recess and it is getting worse every week”.
