Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator Gavan, I am asking for the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, to come to the House to discuss what is needed in the lifetime of this Government to address the housing crisis. When the Government came into power, it was known that approximately 47,000 houses had to be built every year for the next five years just to catch up with the housing deficit numbers at August 2020. At the time, the Government pledged to build 50,000 social housing units over five years. The Government’s Housing for All strategy estimates Ireland will need an average of 33,000 new homes provided each year from 2021 to 2030. However, research by the Housing Commission says Ireland may need up to 62,000 homes built per year until 2050 to meet the demand. That is almost double the annual target in the Government’s master plan for the decade. I came across a short piece the other night put together by the journalist Jason O’Mahony on “ten things Irish politicians will never admit”. No. 2 read: “Short of a suspension of democracy and the press ganging of unemployed workers into construction it is now impossible for Ireland to build enough housing to meet the level of housing we require.” I think he is right. We have reached a stage where there is no way to climb out of the hole we have dug ourselves into in this decade or the next without major sweeping change. If I was in government I would have grave concerns about what the change may look like.

Until the end of this June, the Department built 101 affordable purchase homes, 22 cost rental homes and the Land Development Agency, LDA, built nothing. However, I understand this morning that 26 LDA homes are open for application in Meath County Council. I am hoping the third and fourth quarter figures do rise. New-build social housing input is at 15% with not even 15,000 completions. We are supposed to have 9,000 by the close of December. The numbers do not add up. We should have the Minister in here to tell us why.