Credit union offer of €5 billion fund for social housing deserves Government support

“We need to start building now” – Respond The Respond housing charity today welcomed the..

“We need to start building now” – Respond

The Respond housing charity today welcomed the Irish League of Credit Union’s proposal of a €5 billion fund for social housing.

Respond CEO Ned Brennan said:

“We very much welcome and support the Credit Union’s wish to use their surplus funds to help Ireland deliver the social houses we so desperately need. It shows the Credit Unions have the wider interests of Ireland at the heart of their business model and wish to contribute to the common good.

Our housing lists and the attendant homeless crisis mean that we need to build in excess of 6,000 social homes every year for the next number of years to even remotely cope with demand. As it stands, there is very little chance of reaching even a fraction of this amount. The Credit Union funding proposal would go a long way towards helping us reach this target.

Funding is not the only barrier to building but it is a significant one. I would urge the Government to support this offer by the Credit Unions. Housing takes 2-3 years from planning to development, therefore, in order to address the crisis we need a sense of real urgency. We need to start building now. The Government has everything to gain from approving the Credit Union plan. We have no time to lose.”