Housing Minister set to unveil new public housing plan in 2021

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien arrives at Dublin Castle for a cabinet meeting.

The Minister for Housing, Darragh O'Brien, says a new housing plan is due to be announced in 2021.

Speaking on radio, the TD has said that delivering 50,000 public homes is the target of his department, acknowledging the scale of the ongoing housing crisis.

"I commissioned research from the ESRI, which should be available very shortly, which shows we need to be delivering 33,000 homes per annum.

"This year, it'll probably be 20,000, public and private. It shows the scale of the challenge, to do that.

"We need to build up capacity. We need to be realistic on how much we can build in a given year."

O'Brien confirmed that the initiative will be a mix of new builds and long-term leasing.

"Housing for all is what drives me, that's our bible in my opinion, that's our to-do list.

"We'll move on to a new housing plan in 2021, around our delivery of public homes. 

"50,000 new homes is our target, with the vast majority of those being built.

"I've changed the focus (of public housing) from 'acquisition' to 'build'."

The announcement comes after the housing crisis continued throughout 2020, including over half of all applicants being turned down for the Rebuilding Ireland first-time buyers' loan, according to the housing department.