Taoiseach: Giving tax incentives to developers not the preferred option

In relation to the possibility of tax incentives for developers, the Taoiseach said there were already measures in place. Picture: PA

Offering tax incentives for developers is not the preferred option to stimulate housing delivery, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has made clear, appearing to dump on a proposal from Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.

Speaking in Albania, Mr Martin insisted that the roll-out of rapid build homes as well as existing measures will be used to increase supply as opposed to tax breaks.

He was speaking after the publication of a new report that found that Ireland’s population is growing at three times the rate of new homes.

In relation to the possibility of tax incentives for developers being used, Mr Martin said there were a range of measures already in place.

“We’ll keep everything under review, but I think we have a lot to be going on in terms of the various schemes, programmes," he said.

"The Land Development Agency is there, so it can take over some of those developments and progress those and as I said the rapid build. Those are the more effective things we can do in the short-term.” 

The Taoiseach said that while everything would be kept under review, the Croí Conaithe scheme was the “mechanism” chosen to bridge viability. 

“We do have to give a bit of time to see how Croí Conaithe works,” he said.

Planning laws

Mr Martin said Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien was examining a change to planning laws to facilitate the development of social and affordable rapid build homes on public land.

“I think we should utilise the most important intervention we could make in the next number of months to create the capacity and accelerate the opportunities for rapid build, utilising advanced manufacturing technology in the construction industry more effectively, perhaps, then perhaps has been the case,” the Taoiseach said at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana.

He said Mr O'Brien is looking at social and affordable housing on public land, to bring in planning laws that would accelerate from a planning perspective, the provision of such housing.

"We do need to build more houses more quickly and that is the bottom line,” he said.

“We should be doing more of it in terms of domestic house construction. There is a similar debate going on across Europe and the United Kingdom as well, in terms of the rapid build area,” Mr Martin added.