Martin: We're 'not where we want to be on housing delivery' 

Micheál Martin said the Government is "giving everything it can" to solve the housing crisis. Picture: Brian Lawless

The Taoiseach says Ireland is "not where we want to be" on housing delivery, but that he believes there is an "energy" to solve the housing crisis.

Micheál Martin said the Government is "giving everything it can" to solve the issue adding that his personal ambition is to see house completions at nearly double the rate that they will hit in 2020. 

This year's figures are likely to be around the 18,000 mark.

The Taoiseach said homelessness, which has dropped year-on-year in large part due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Government's evictions ban, has "come down significantly". In total, 8,484 people presented to emergency accommodation services in November, a drop of 253 people on October.

Micheal Martin said the number of homeless has 'come down significantly' but has not fallen enough.

However, he said the fall has not been enough. 

"I am — we are — giving everything we can. We have pledged around €3.3 billion for housing in 2021, but the key issue will be capacity to deliver and to get the houses built," he said.

"Covid has impacted that in the first wave because in the first lockdown, construction shut down and that has impacted housebuilding. 

"So we'll hopefully be close to 18,000 at the end of this year, but we would like to get to 25,000 houses in 2021. That will be challenging, but that is the target. (Of those) 12,750 will be social and of those 9,750 will be direct builds by approved housing bodies or local authorities."

The Taoiseach praised Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien for bringing 'a great energy' to the portfolio.

Mr Martin said that the two pieces of legislation brought to Cabinet last week by Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien — legislation around the Land Development Agency and the Government's affordable housing strategy —  will come before the Dáil when it resumes in January. 

The Taoiseach said Mr O'Brien is bringing "a great energy" to his portfolio.

"The Land and Development Agency Bill, which has been around for a while got approval by Cabinet (last week). That's a significant milestone and it is another weapon in our armory. The Housing Affordability plan also came through Cabinet, so the Minister has been very active. There are very challenging issues in the context of both pieces of legislation."
Mr Martin said the majority of the 2,500 "void units" — homes in disrepair owned by local authorities — which had received funding in the July Stimulus, would have completed their refurbishments by the end of the year. 

He said the Government will make a difference to the housing crisis.

"There will be an impact (on housing) in the lifetime of this Government. The challenge will be in the post-Covid scenario. Demographics may rise, demand may rise. My worry is about getting to the 33,000 figure which the ESRI has said is necessary to put a dent into the waiting times. I'm not happy yet that we are where we should be and I think we'll keep driving it on."

Mr Martin said the Government believes that helping an increasing number of people to exit homeless services is possible.
"I think numbers are coming down but we want to keep that down. 6,000 people exited homelessness last year, so people are exiting. So we want to concentrate on getting more people out of homelessness."