71% of Kildare Co Council's housing allocated to Irish citizens
Photo is for illustrative purposes only
71% of those allocated social housing by Kildare County Council between 2022 and 2025 were Irish citizens.
A total of 1,954 applicants were allocated social housing during the four-year period. Of these, 1,394 were Irish citizens, while 408 (20.9%) from the European Economic Area received housing, as did seven (0.4%) from the UK and 145 (7.4%) from outside the EEA, UK or Ireland.
This emerged at the most recent meeting of Kildare County Council, where cllr Tom McDonnell brought forward a motion seeking a breakdown from the local authority ‘of social housing allocations (including to approved housing bodies) by citizenship for the last 4 years’.
Director of services Annette Aspell issued the council’s written report, which provided the statistics and also said that ‘it is not possible to accurately collate the data in relation to Approved Housing Body tenants; however it will be broadly similar’.
Ms Aspell explained that, with regard to Approved Housing Body (AHB) allocations, the local authority’s role is to provide nominations to the relevant AHB in line with approved allocation procedures.
The report also noted that social housing allocations are based on time spent on the housing list, with some applicants given priority due to factors including homelessness and disability.
In a social media post days after the meeting, cllr McDonnell claimed that AHBs are mainly giving housing to “non nationals”. He said the council “need to be more transparent”.
The available evidence does not support the claim that AHB housing is primarily given to non-nationals. The allocation system is based on assessed housing need and eligibility, with AHBs operating through the same social housing allocation system as local authorities. The majority of households on the social housing waiting list are Irish citizens.
According to the Housing Agency’s Summary of Social Housing Assessments 2025, Irish citizens comprise 71.3% of qualified households on the list.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
