A survey has revealed that there has been a 218% increase in the number of people across the county looking for social housing within he past two years.
The numbers waiting for social housing in Donegal have increased by 1609 in the past two years according today’s Tirconail Tribune.
Donegal County Council currently has a total of 2,970 applicants on their housing list and it is a stark reminder of the bad old times of thirty years ago when mobile homes dominated the landscape as young families faced a ten year wait for a house.
The Mayor of Donegal, Cllr. Ian McGarvey says that housing is the biggest challenge facing the Council and funding is very scarce to tackle the problem.
However he says that while there are 2970 on waiting lists this includes 932 who are in receipt of rental supplement.
He also says that many of those waiting for a house are refusing offers being made by the Council and recently only one applicant out of twelve in Letterkenny offered accommodation by the Council accepted it.
The increase of 218% is in line with the national trend that shows a 13% increase in social housing waiting lists and the situation is expected to get worse.
Cash strapped Councils across Ireland are battling to retain existing essential services and here in Donegal, the last Council meeting heard that unless they cut back by €3.3 million immediately the local authority would effectively cease to exist.
Among the areas targeted for cuts are Roads, Machinery & RDO of the order of €0-9m to €1.2m; Housing Capital €0.05m to €0.1m; Housing & Corporate €0.1m to 0.2m; Community, Culture & Planning €0.1m to €0.2m;
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