Government accused of not 'doing the bare minimum' by spending its housing budget 

Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns: 'I don’t think there is one person left in the State that has faith in your housing policy.' 

The Government has been criticised for missing its affordable housing targets last year and has been accused of not “doing the bare minimum” by spending its budget.

In a spikey exchange between the Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns and Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, Ms Cairns hit out at the Government’s delivery of 1,757 affordable homes against a target of 4,100.

She said over €1 billion was left unspent before adding: “I don’t think there is one person left in the State that has faith in your housing policy.” 

Ms Cairns said housing is the most “serious concern” for businesses here, noting that some are considering the purchase of “entire housing estates for their workers”.

“I don’t think even the multinationals believe your assurances on housing anymore. They, like us, have been listening to you make the same broken promises for years,” she said.

Ms Cairns asked the minister if he is aware of businesses considering purchasing entire estates for staff, stating that supply is not the sole issue but the affordability of houses.

Mr Coveney said that, after delivering just under 30,000 units in 2022, the Government needs to provide between 40,000 to 50,000 housing units per year. However, he said the relationship with multinationals has “never been stronger”.

Although noting that multinationals are "concerned" about housing, Mr Coveney said: “Ireland is a country that multinationals have extraordinary confidence in, and the relationship with this Government in terms of faith in what we are doing.”

Meanwhile, with the wholesale prices of energy down “quite sharply” since a peak in August, Mr Coveney said the Government is "watching closely".

“There’s always a delay in passing on reduced wholesale prices but we want to make sure that that delay is as short as possible,” he said.