Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)

That is not what the Housing Commission said.

If you continue with eviction bans, rent freezes and all of that, you will depress suply. There is no doubt in my mind about that. If we keep doing judicial reviews, even against guidelines and regulations - the Deputy should not nod; these are the facts - that is paralysing the system. We want to get apartments built - different types, sizes and guidelines. The first resort of public representatives in the Labour Party, and other parties, is to go and do a judicial review, which will delay progress on that front by six or eight months. Everybody has identified the shortage of apartments as a key issue. The Government has moved through reform of the rent pressure zones, through changing the apartment guidelines and through the VAT cut, to try to get to a position where we narrow the viability gap so we get more apartments built. What do we face? We face judicial reviews and I do not think that is right. This is beginning to undermine the democratic voice in here because we are elected to do things and get things done but every step of the way, whether it is a wastewater treatment plant or infrastructure, there are judicial reviews and many of them are politically motivated.

From the Government’s perspective, we want supply, more supply and more supply. Housing supply numbers for 2025 in the second quarter, as the Deputy knows, were quite strong for that time of the year. There was a 35% increase year on year on the second quarter in 2024, a 20% increase for the year to date compared to 2024 and they are the strongest second quarter and half yearly figures since 2008.

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