Delivery of homes 'will be much better this year' says Taoiseach

Newly Built houses in Dublin, as new figures have revealed that Ireland had the fastest growing house prices in Europe during the summer of 2013 and 2014 increasing by 15\% compared to a European average of 2.3\%.

Housing is the single biggest challenge facing the government but the delivery of homes “will be much better this year” Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told the Dáil.

During sharp exchanges with Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, Mr Martin accused the lead Opposition party of “sneakily” voting for housing schemes while publicly railing against them.

Ms McDonald said the government is facing a refugee crisis on top of the existing housing crisis and the Housing for All Plan “already lies in tatters and is not fit for purpose.” Mr Martin accepted that access to housing for thousands of people is the greatest challenge to be met and that up to 35,000 homes or more will be needed per year to resolve that crisis.

“I’ve repeatedly said in this House, and since I became Taoiseach, that housing remains the most serious social issue and crisis facing our country. The last two years have been very difficult in house construction because of two significant lockdowns.

 "But putting that to one side, for more perspective, access to housing is fundamental. But social housing, affordable housing, and a variety of housing types that will meet the needs of a modern society,” he told Ms McDonald.

But then he attacked Ms McDonald and her party’s lack of substantive policies on housing and accused them of blocking much-needed housing projects for ideological reasons.

“I believe in homeownership. I'm not sure that you do or that your party does,” he said to Ms McDonald directly.

Graphic showing the rise in house prices across the country. Source: MyHome.ie

Opposition

“Because you've opposed every measure to do with affordability. 29,000 people benefited from the Help to Buy scheme. You've opposed it resolutely since its inception,” he said.

“On the shared equity scheme, you play a double game. You actually sneakily vote for it in the end, despite all your ranting and raving about it,” the Taoiseach said referencing Eoin O Broin, Sinn Féin’s Housing spokesman.

“So he opposes shared equity allegedly, but ends up voting for us when it came to the house,” he said.

Mr Martin said Sinn Féin’s policies on housing are threadbare and lack substance.

“I look at your policies on affordability. I don't see any coherent policy of substance in terms of people owning their own homes or in terms of your own affordable housing scheme, for example. It's very clear that the people will not end up owning their home. It's threadbare and you lack substance in your housing policy,” he said.

Ms McDonald fired back, saying that there are 10,000 people in homeless accommodation, that we are dealing with a massive housing emergency and the scale of the government respond response needs to match that reality.

She said on Monday, three separate reports republished all showing another massive increase in house prices and in parts of rural Ireland, these increases are more than 20%. So the average price of a home across the state now is close to €300,000 and in Dublin it is far more than that.

She said this means that one would need earnings of between €77,000 and upwards of €100,000 in most of the state to afford a home. “This so far above the wages the earnings of the vast vast majority of workers as to make homeownership nearly impossible. This locks out a whole generation of homeownership,” she said.

Ms McDonald said that this government are waving the flag and telling a whole generation of people that they will never own their own home.