From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Galway City Council will fall 40 per cent short of its social housing target for 2022, it has been revealed – as the wait goes on for more than 4,300 households on the city’s housing list.

At the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, senior staff from City Hall confirmed that their plan to deliver 265 units by the end of this year had been derailed.

Director of Services for Housing Capital, Patricia Philbin, said a number of factors contributed to the local authority’s failure to meet objectives.

“We do not expect to meet our targets this year. We expect we will deliver 154 to 158 units. We had one scheme delayed and several of the Approved Housing Body units we had expected have fallen through,” she said, adding that they hoped to pick up the slack next year.

However, there will be a mountain to climb, as Brian Barrett of the Housing Department suggested that finding crucial workers to advance building projects was becoming increasingly challenging.

“The sector is crying out for technical skills such as architects, quantity surveyors, design teams and project managers. One just cannot get them at the moment,” said Mr Barrett.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, and for extensive coverage on the housing issue, see the November 4 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.