Hundreds of Dublin City Council tenants and housing campaigners gathered outside City Hall last night to protest against controversial rent increases introduced under the council’s revised Differential Rent Scheme.
The demonstration took place as councillors debated a motion seeking to reverse the changes, which came into effect at the beginning of April and were expected to raise rents by an average of €24 per week for thousands of tenants.
The revised scheme, narrowly approved during Dublin City Council’s budget meeting in November by 31 votes to 30, marked the first major overhaul of the city’s social housing rent calculations in three decades. Under the changes, some households faced rent increases of up to 35 per cent, with rates determined by tenants’ income levels and household categories.
Opposition parties including Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and several Independent councillors had opposed the measures, while Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party supported them.
Several elected representatives attended last night’s protest, including People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy and Dublin Central by-election candidates Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Janice Boylan.
Council officials had previously defended the increases, arguing they were necessary to address mounting maintenance and operational costs within Dublin’s social housing system. Councillors were told the local authority faced a funding shortfall of €55.6 million between the cost of maintaining housing services and the income generated through rents and state support.
However, critics accused the council of shifting the burden onto low-income tenants rather than exploring alternative revenue sources.
“This is obscene. That is what’s behind this. It’s not about maintenance,” Ó Ceannabháin said during the protest. “I think we should fight it with everything that we have.”
He also claimed tenants across the inner city had been forced to battle continuously for essential repair work and housing upgrades that had yet to materialise.
During November’s budget negotiations, councillor Conor Reddy proposed an amendment that would have increased commercial rates by 15 per cent instead of raising rents for council tenants. The proposal was ultimately rejected.
Ó Ceannabháin argued the alternative measure could have generated additional revenue without, as he put it, “punishing the poorest people in society.”
Housing activists from the Community Action and Tenants’ Union (CATU) joined residents from several Dublin City Council estates at the demonstration, many of whom described deteriorating living conditions in their homes.
One resident from Oliver Bond House in the Liberties said tenants were being asked to pay more despite serious unresolved maintenance issues.
“The absolute cheek of Dublin City Council to add rent to our homes and the absolute conditions that we’re living in is disgraceful. Shame on them,” she said.
“I bet you not one of them is living in these conditions. I’ll do a home swap with any one of them.”
Residents of Oliver Bond House have long complained about damp, mould and structural problems within the complex, which was built in 1936 and accommodates around 1,200 people across nearly 400 flats.
Earlier this week, the Department of Housing withdrew funding for a planned regeneration project intended to modernise the estate and address long-standing health and safety concerns.
Another protester from Dolphin House near Rialto said frustration among tenants had intensified in recent weeks.
“Over the last few weeks, I’ve been very angered like everyone here,” she said. “Let’s all get out and say no way we won’t pay.”
A resident from George's Place said he had no intention of paying the increased rent while conditions in his home remained unresolved.
“I’m not paying it, they can put me in Mountjoy, I don’t care,” he said.
