Minister accuses 'arrogant' Sinn Féin of being 'heavy on bluster' in alternative Budget

Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin said: 'Almost all of the evidence available shows that the Government’s policy is failing.'

Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien said: “The arrogance of them [Sinn Féin] setting a condition about government, about negotiations in the future that they, quote unquote, want the housing portfolio, and people haven't even voted yet.” Photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Sinn Féin has been accused of being "incredibly presumptuous" and "arrogant" in laying claim to the housing portfolio before an election takes place.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has launched an attack on his Sinn Féin counterpart Eoin Ó Broin for details set out in the party's recent alternative Budget, claiming Sinn Féin is "very light on policy" but "heavy on bluster".

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr O’Brien said Sinn Féin should not be setting out a demand before the election even takes place.

“The arrogance of them [Sinn Féin] setting a condition about government, about negotiations in the future that they, quote unquote, want the housing portfolio, and people haven't even voted yet,” Mr O’Brien said.

“I think it's incredibly presumptuous of them, and it is arrogant.”

At the Sinn Féin think-in, party leader Mary Lou McDonald confirmed that the housing portfolio would be a key demand for their party in any Government.

“We want to affect change across all of Government. I don't have as clear cut an answer for you in respect of other portfolios but for us, housing is absolutely core, it’s absolutely key,” Ms McDonald said.

Sinn Fein's spokesperson on Housing Eoin O Broin said that his party judges governments and ministers by whether or not their policies are working. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA

The Housing Minister said that Sinn Féin currently believe that they will win the next general election regardless of other outcomes. However, Ms McDonald told reporters over two weeks ago that “there is nothing inevitable about Sinn Féin being in Government”.

Reacting to Mr O’Brien’s comments, Mr Ó Broin said that Sinn Féin judges governments and ministers by whether or not their policies are working.

“Almost all of the evidence available shows that the Government’s policy is failing,” Mr Ó Broin said. 

House prices are higher than when this government took office, rents are higher than when this government took office and homelessness and child homelessness is higher than when this Government took office.

He added that the party wanted a change in Government and minister.

Asked if he would be able to work with Sinn Féin in Government, Mr O’Brien said that there were lots of policy areas where the two parties are not compatible.

He said that the Government was delivering on housing, adding that he delivered more social homes than any year since 1975. This totaled 10,263 social homes but includes houses built, acquired, and leased.

Put to him that the Government still failed to hit its overall social housing target, Mr O’Brien acknowledged the issue, but highlighted the context of the war in Ukraine hiking the cost of building materials.

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“It’s fair to say that, it's true. But you’ve got to look at the context. We’d, about two months post the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, a practically hyper-inflation in materials. We did have disruption to supply chain, not just in the housing sector but across the board.

“They’re realities and we managed that and we managed to finish the year very well,” Mr O’Brien said, defending his record.

Questioned on when he expected to see revised housing targets, Mr O’Brien said that this is being done “in a pretty scientific way”, with ESRI and Housing Commission data required before he would put a figure on it.