Leo Varadkar pledges 25,000 homes to be built in 2020

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will not be visiting a homeless hub for Christmas Day but promises that an extra 25,000 homes will be built across Ireland next year.

Mr Varadkar declined to say how he would be spending the festive day. He acknowledged the day would not be easy for everyone, including those who must work

Mr Varadkar said: “I’ll be doing something on Christmas Day, but it’s not related to homelessness.

“But I will certainly be acknowledging on Christmas Day the fact that, for a lot of people, it’s not going to be a very pleasant day and for a lot of people it’s going to be a day of work, because a lot of people need to work on Christmas Day for lots of different reasons and we’re very grateful that they do.”

He said he had visited homeless hubs as well as services that helped rough sleepers and it was something he would do in the future.

He added: “I would point out that we have managed to reduce rough sleeping considerably in the past year or so and we do have shelter for anyone that wants it.

And we’re going to do our best to make sure that they know that and that they do come in and that they are offered that shelter.

“And I will be conscious as well on Christmas Day that in the past year more than 20,000 new homes and new apartments were built in Ireland, so there will be 20,000 families around the table on Christmas Day in a home that didn’t exist a year ago.

“And if we’re going to solve the problem of homelessness and the housing crisis we need to build a lot more homes next year and I’m targeting 25,000 new homes being built next year, including 11,000 for people in need of social housing.”

Mr Varadkar said he would be attending a private event to mark Christmas Day.