MORE THAN 18,000 young Limerick people have been forced to live at home with their parents this Christmas.
And, according to one local politician, this stark fact is a clear indicator of the government’s failure to tackle the housing crisis.
Rural Ireland Independent Richard O’Donoghue believes that those in power are “basically telling the fine young men and women of Limerick, and across Ireland, that they should be happy to own nothing”.
“The government’s mid-term legacy of broken promises means almost 20,000 young adults, that is persons between 20 and 34, are forced to live at home with their parents in Limerick, resulting in profound stress, anxiety, and shattered dreams.
“Their housing policies are cases of spin over substance. Ireland’s young people have been betrayed, as the pathway to housing is damaging their mental health and socio-economic outlook.”
The County Limerick TD is also of the opinion that this abject policy failure has caused the highest proportion of young people to live with their parents since records began.
“Eurostat data illustrates that three in every four young adults in Ireland were living with their parents in 2021, up significantly from around 50 per cent in 2014.
“In Finland and Denmark – countries with similar demographics to Ireland – the percentage of the same age cohort living with their parents is at around 12 per cent.”
“However, the worrying trajectory of the data confirms things are intensifying, not improving. With the government mid-term changeover, comes the fact that 80 per cent of people under 30 in this country were forced to live with their parents in 2022. The rate rise is the fastest across the EU.
“Micheál Martin’s reign as Taoiseach has locked increasingly more young adults out of buying or renting their own homes. The average house price in county Limerick is currently in the region of €225,000, while there is limited rental availability,” he concluded.
