Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to the building of 25,000 new homes every year through to 2020. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has claimed that 14,932 new homes were built last year. However, a number of experts have strongly disputed this figure, suggesting that the actual number could be as low as half that. This criticism has been supported by the recent release of the CSO housing data and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government's own building control management system figures. Two things are now clear. The first is that ESB connections are not a reliable method of counting new builds. The second is that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has no idea whatsoever of how many new homes are actually being built. Will the Government use the opportunity of the forthcoming building control Bill to introduce a new and reliable data source for house-building in order that people will actually know whether or not the Government is meeting its own targets?

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