Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for housing has indicated that the level of housing targets for the years ahead is something he is considering. The Deputy will be aware that the Government agreed in March to the deferral of the approval of a revised national planning framework, and to set out a revised timeline for the process. This is informed, to a significant degree, by census data. The postponement of the census in 2021 due to the pandemic resulted in the delayed publication of crucial census outputs relating to housing and demographics. In light of the extent of recent demographic change and the implications for future population projections and structural housing demand, the Government has decided to defer the approval of a draft revised national planning framework until the full set of data required to properly consider matters relating to demographics and population projections has been completed by the ESRI. The ESRI has produced a draft final report which is now subject to peer review. The independent report will published by the ESRI once all the final reviews have been completed. To recap, the ESRI is doing an independent research project on what future housing needs could be. Once that has been received by the Minister for housing and considered by the Government, this will then lead to a consideration of what our future housing output targets should be for the medium term.

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