The ongoing housing crisis threatens to undermine Irish economic success and its international reputation, as a generation of workers continue to be locked out of the housing market. 

The concerns of Fórsa members about the impact of the escalating crisis featured prominently in a number of motions at the union’s recent conference in Killarney, dominating the first evening of debate.

A growing number of employers are reporting that prospective employees are declining job offers due to the lack of affordable housing, while accommodation concerns are driving recruitment and retention challenges in both the public and private sectors.

Helen Linehan, from Fórsa’s Cork general clerical branch, said her branch had brought its motion to the conference because so many of her younger work colleagues were still living at home with parents or contemplating emigration because they could not find a home.

Helen said too many members in civil and public services continue to struggle with high rent costs and are forced to live further away from their work in order to find more affordable accommodation: “The current situation cannot continue. Workers cannot afford escalating housing costs, and this poses a genuine threat to our public services,” he said.

She called on delegates to support a motion calling on the union to engage with the Government to find housing solutions, including rent controls, State provision of affordable and subsidised housing or the acquisition of housing for civil and public sector workers.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said housing has overtaken inflation and cost-of-living concerns for working people: “We have an incredibly successful economy, with burgeoning exchequer revenues and full employment. But, beneath the surface of that, the housing crisis is having a corrosive effect. 

“The Irish economic success story is being actively undermined by the ongoing accommodation shortages in all Irish cities, towns and rural areas. 

“A growing number of younger people are locked out of housing and locked out of starting an independent life. These are the young people we need to build and improve public services,” he said.

Recent polling found that 8% of young people in Ireland, aged between 18 and 34, are planning to leave the country, while one-third of the age group say that they are considering it because the situation has become so acute. 

Kevin added: “It’s the reverse of the situation that prompted the 1980s ‘brain drain’ of young people, who left the country because of the lack of employment opportunities. Today, employment is plentiful, but housing pressures are prompting a fresh exodus of talent.

“The country’s international reputation is being badly compromised because current policies on housing simply aren’t working, which means that foreign direct investment is increasingly under threat,” he said.

Fórsa activist Anne Marie Ryan, from the union’s Westmeath branch, called on delegates to support the union’s active engagement with government to advocate for “a meaningful and workable resolution to the housing crisis. We want the union to fight for stricter regulations on landlords, developers and commercial funds to ensure fair and affordable housing options for all workers,” she said.

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