Minister claims he can end housing crisis in four years

It comes after a Department of Finance document says that the housing crisis will persist until 2040

Minister for Housing James Browne said: 'I aim to end the housing crisis in my term, and I believe that can be done.'

The housing minister says that he believes he can end the crisis in his term of office, despite a Government report this week that the blockages will last another 15 years.

James Browne was responding to a Department of Finance document published this week, which says that the housing crisis will persist until 2040, if the Government can meet its housing target of 60,000 homes built a year by 2030.

At the launch of 95 homes in Skerries, Co Dublin, by the approved housing body Tuath on Wednesday, Mr Browne said the document was based on a "no-change scenario" and that he is aiming to see the crisis solved in the next four years.

He said:

I aim to end the housing crisis in my term, and I believe that can be done. 

"The Department of Finance very much try to land on a centre point out of almost 8,000 different scenarios and a no-change model. 

"I'm certainly not accepting a no-change model. We are driving change. We've made huge decisions in the last eight months, very substantial changes. Sometimes not always popular, but I believe are necessary to deliver and drive."

Asked if he believed he could defy the departmental projection, Mr Browne said he believes the changes he has made to the housing sector "will deliver the homes that we need, and I think we're really going to see those results in the very near future".

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"We've pulled a huge amount of levers over the last eight months in the Department of Housing.

"We're mapping out how we can get to those numbers (of 60,000 homes a year). I'm totally resource-driven, rather than target-driven, in how we can get those homes built as quickly as possible."

Judicial reviews

At the same event, junior housing minister John Cummins said he believes some people are taking judicial reviews purely to "frustrate" the delivery of housing and infrastructure. 

Mr Cummins said he would not reference ongoing cases, but that changes made in the Planning Act were "important".

"What I would say about judicial reviews generally is I have no doubt in my mind that there are people who are taking judicial reviews in this country with the sole goal of trying to frustrate the delivery of infrastructure and housing, and that, to me, is unacceptable."