Howlin: Solving housing crisis takes time

Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin has said that houses cannot be built with the click of a finger to ease the current crisis.

His comments come after Ministers Alan Kelly and Michael Noonan met last night in a bid to end the ongoing row over housing within Government.

It is understood that a compromise housing package will see landlords having to justify rent hikes by proving they are in line with the market in the area will be brought to Cabinet next week.

Minister Kelly had hoped to link rents to inflation, but that has been left out of the plan.

Minister Howlin said that the Government has invested in social housing and construction - but it takes time.

"Unfortunately, you can't just simply start those with the click of a finger, it takes 18 months to two years to get sites indentified, serviced, to get construction underway and houses built," he said.

"That is happening. In the meanwhile, we need to take other measures, some have been taken, others will be taken."