This article is from page 14 of the 2012-02-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
SOCIAL housing needs in Clare is at its highest level on record and almost twice what it was just four years ago according to figures compiled in the Mid-West Regional Authority (MWRA) Factfile, which was published in Ennistymon on Friday.
According to the report, there was 1,383 people in need of social housing in Clare last year. This compares to 796 in 2008, representing a 73.7 per cent jump in just three years.
Indeed the social housing list in the county is more than 400 per cent greater than it was at the end of the last recession in Ireland in 1993.
Despite the need for social housing in Clare, the county also possesses more vacant dwellings than at any other time in the history of the state.
According to the MWRA, there were 11,892 dwellings vacant in the county in 2011.
The number of vacant dwellings has increase by 21.3 per cent in the five years between 2006 and 2011. With Clare’s overall housing stock rising from 48,834 in 2006 to 55,826 in 2011 this means that one in every five houses in Clare are currently vacant.
Indeed, according to the report, Clare has one of the highest rates of vacant houses in Ireland with only six counties having a higher vacancy rate.
The MWRA includes Clare County Council, Limerick City and County Councils and South Tipperary County Council.
The factfile highlighted a number of issues, including maintaining employment and improving competitiveness as key steps forward for the mid-west region.
The report recommends a “sustainably increase” of the population in Shannon, as a gateway town and Ennis, as a hub town, in the immediate future.
“Population growth is crucial for attracting employment and improving infrastructure in the region. In order to maintain a high net disposable income level, the mid-west must continue to create highly skilled employment in areas such as ICT and med-technologies to counterbalance the high level of educational attainment in the region,” said a spokesperson.
“Reducing unemployment levels and preventing out migration are crucial to the region’s competitiveness and economy going forward. Key employment sectors require Governmental stimulus reshaping, particularly in the public sector.”
The report also calls for the completion of the Atlantic gateway corridor linking the M18 at Gort to the M6 Galway to Dublin motorway.