The government is being asked to consider introducing a levy for developers that sit on empty property and land for too long in Dublin, without putting them to use.
The Green Party has lead a bunch of journalists around Dublin City Centre on a cycle (keeping it green), where the party's leader has been pointing out derelict buildings and sites which he believes could be used to build badly-needed homes.
Green Party Leader, Eamon Ryan, said "they should put on a vacant site levy, so the developers stops letting it just sit and rot, and instead start putting up housing and retails and shops and cultural spaces - which is what we need".
Figures released by the Department of Environment last year showed that the number of homeless families rose by 76% during 2015.
By August, more than 700 families including 1500 children had nowhere to live.
The figures showed that most of the affected families were based in Dublin, and more than half had been given temporary accommodation in hotels.
The Green Party has called for stronger powers to tackle derelict and vacant land in urban centres. Eamon Ryan said “A watered down version of this levy has been delayed till 2019, and it won’t even apply to derelict sites or buildings."
"This inaction has contributed to the housing and homelessness crisis. There was no long term thinking from the Government, and now they're scrambling to save face before the election", he added.
Green Party candidate in the north inner city, architect Ian Noel Smith said “Even a short cycle around the city centre highlights the urgent need for action need on housing, derelict buildings and unused sites."
"There are 282 unused sites in Dublin City Centre alone. These sites, with proper planning and regulation, could produce affordable homes, the office space that the city desperately needs, or public amenities that residents are crying out for".
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