City Council asked to cut rents

COUNCILLOR Kenneth O’Flynn has called on Cork City Council to reduce rents in line with the cuts which have been made to Social Welfare in the recent Budget. The Fianna Fáil Councillor said, “There is a number of people in Society who are solely dependant on Social Welfare and this cut however small it looks will significantly affect their standard of living. We in Cork City Council have a social duty to ensure that those in local authority Housing can afford to keep a roof over their head without incurring debt.

“Things are certainly going to get harder for people, it is our job here in the City to try and soften the blows and I think that we can begin by reducing the rent for those on Social Welfare.

“There is evidence cost of living is coming down in terms of grocery prices. I believe that the council now needs to its bit to help hard-pressed social welfare recipients and reduce the rent it charges for local authority housing.

“In the last year more than €20 billion has been taken out the Irish economy leading to job losses and company closures. It is the most challenging economic environment that any Government has faced in living memory.

“If we are to get through this recession we are going to have to all pull together and try to ensure that we minimize the pain for these least able to cope with it, therefore I am calling on the City Council to cut rents.

“We do need to look for savings in the council budget but I believe that should look for cuts in areas such as back office functions and admin rather in the areas which make a tangible difference to people lives,” he concluded.