Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the week when so many families are facing a cliff edge of eviction in view of the ban on evictions being lifted on Saturday, we have learned that housing commencements have declined by 20% under the Government. That is 6,000 fewer new homes than at the same time last year. The Government has consistently over-relied on private developers to provide homes. The private market has proven that it cannot and will not deliver the affordable homes our country needs. The Housing Commission has reported that we will need 50,000 new homes each year to meet the needs of our growing population. This figure is much greater than the target in Housing for All, which, it seems, the Government is not going to meet. The drop in the number of commencements we are seeing will have a knock-on effect on housing delivery in 2023, with everyone already predicting a slowdown in construction. Will the Government revise the Housing for All target to 50,000 new builds per year in order to increase supply and to bring down rent levels and house prices? Will it ramp up State investment in the provision of social and affordable housing, particularly as the Land Development Agency, LDA, report indicates that up to 70,000 homes could be built on public land?

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