A COUNCIL OFFICIAL has defended his proposal to boycott holiday homeowners in Co Mayo.

Tom Gilligan, the director of services for housing at Mayo County Council, called for a boycott of holiday homeowners in response to the ongoing housing crisis, the Irish Independent reported this morning.

He said, in an email to housing committee councillors, that all options needed to be examined amid a shortage of homes. There are roughly 6,000 holiday homes in Mayo, according to the Central Statistics Office.

Gilligan defended the proposal on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland this morning, claiming that holiday homes in Co Mayo could be vacant for up to 11 months of the year. He said the county’s population need homes “for people, not just for seasons”.

He said the idea was also to encourage holiday homeowners to sell or rent their home.

Gerry Murray, a Sinn Féin councillor in Co Mayo, told The Journal that he was “astonished” when he first heard the reports.

While he does not sit on the strategic policy committee which the boycott idea was discussed at, he deals with issues around housing regularly in Mayo, he said.

He said: “A lot of holiday homes are owned by people whose fathers and mothers may have lived here.”

Murray added that as well as keeping land and the family home, those who do own a holiday property are part of the community. He also said that local businesses usually “cannot afford to turn away any business”.

He said that if counties have the same or similar levels of holiday homes as Mayo, it would make more sense to encourage that the owners lease the properties through the introduction of tax-free rental income.

“If rental income was tax-free, landlords could afford to charge a much lower rent,” Murray said, promoting Sinn Féin’s policies. 

Mayo County Council said that Gilligan’s proposals were part of an internal discussion document in response to the Strategic Policy Committee’s request for a policy around holiday homes.

“No policy has been formulated or adopted by Mayo County Council. The document does not reflect the official position of Mayo County Council.”

With reporting by Press Association