Sinn Féin’s financial spokesman, Pearse Doherty, stated in an agitated Dáíl debate that the Government will fail substantially to meet its house-building targets. He informed fellow TDs that house construction in the first three quarters of the current year didn’t match that in the same period in 2023. According to him, data from the CSO reveals that 21,634 new houses were completed this year until the end of September compared to the 22,356 in the first nine months of the last year.
However, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien retaliated stating that most houses are typically constructed in the last quarter, implying a record number of homes will be completed this year. Initially, the Government target was 33,450 homes for this year, and the Minister strongly affirmed they would hand over high 30,000s or early 40,000s residences in the current year.
Mr Doherty strongly criticised the Government for extreme incompetence and accused Mr O’Brien of dishonesty concerning the data. The term was later adjusted to “deliberately misleading the Dáíl” after being called out by Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl. Mr Doherty argued for a significant change in strategy, remarking that the situation was escalating rapidly.
Persistent in his claims, Minister O’Brien repeated that the Government would deliver high 30,000s or early 40,000s homes this year. He cited independent assessments from Deutsche Bank and Cairn Homes stating that more than 40,000 homes would be constructed in the ongoing year.
According to the Sinn Féin TD, thousands of renters are in jeopardy of homelessness as the Government has discarded its much-promised clampdown on Airbnb. He pointed out that vulture funds were unrestrictedly purchasing in excess of 6,000 properties the previous year and imposing exceedingly high rents.
Mr O’Brien, referring to Mr Doherty as a “furious individual”, accused him of objecting to every proposal set forth by the Government. He queried Mr Doherty’s intentions, asserting that Mr Doherty manipulates the facts to feed his political story.
Mr O’Brien also stated that there had been a ten-year pause in fresh housing due to the financial plunge. The Labour leader, Ivana Bacik, rebutted this by metaphorically suggesting that blaming this on a past issue and attempting to rectify it is akin to saying “the dog consumed my homework”.
Ms Bacik voiced her belief that the Government requires greater urgency and extensive ambition. She reasoned that the longer goals remain unachieved or subpar, the greater the struggle to catch up.
She also contended that the Government’s strategy has proved unsuccessful by any standard; rents, evictions, house prices, and most alarmingly, homelessness rates, have all surged.
The percentage of individuals in need of support from the housing charity Threshold has seen an increase of 17.5%, and the departure abroad of critical workers such as teachers, nurses, and doctors is, according to Ms Bacik, attributable to the housing catastrophe.
Ms Bacik stated that the most significant difference the Minister could make was by escalating the construction of more public and accountable homes and by augmenting the building goals. She invited Mr O’Brien to declare the Government’s enhanced targets.
In response, the Minister announced that the updated goals were currently in the process of revision in cooperation with the updated national planning blueprint. He admitted he could not provide a specific timeline but emphasized the importance of target setting by all three parties.
He highlighted the unparalleled increase in housing investment, with a budget allocation of €6 billion set for the forthcoming year. However, he emphasised on the necessity to demonstrate the means of achieving this, since there are individuals in this House who would merely draw a random number and convince people of their ability to provide 60,000, 70,000 or even 80,000 houses annually.