Government to miss housebuilding targets by ‘country mile’, Dáil told

The Government will miss its 2030 housing targets “by a country mile”, falling nearly 140,000 short of its predicted goal, the Dáil has been told.

A report by Deloitte said the Government is forecast to miss its targets by between 123,400 and 136,100 homes.

Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne told the Dáil on Wednesday that the report made for “grim reading”.

The report estimates 40,000 homes will be completed in 2026 and while this reflects a 10% increase on 2025, it means 260,000 more homes are needed in the next four years to reach the 300,000 figure.

The report states that maintaining the current level of momentum is not a given, with Deloitte’s analysis showing the rate of planning permission approvals is not keeping pace.

Mr Hearne, the party’s spokesman for housing, accused the Government of choosing “spin and empty promises” over building homes.

“It is going to miss its target by a country mile, falling nearly 140,000 homes short,” he said.

“The Taoiseach will stand up and say we have turned a corner again and then he will do what he always does, which is look for someone else to blame.

“Will it be the planning system, the courts, the opposition, or some vulnerable group he and the Tánaiste pick on?

“I have news for him: the failure is all his and it is devastating the lives of tens of thousands of people across this country.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland ranks as the fastest in Europe in housing construction “by a considerable distance”.

He added: “At 7.2 units per 1,000 of population, we are more than double the Europe average of three units and triple the United Kingdom’s figure of 2.4.

“Since 2020, we will by the end of this year have delivered close to 70,000 social houses and maybe more.

“Going back to between 2015 and 2020, the number was nearly half that, if not even less. That is progress.

“The Deputy will not acknowledge it because he is in opposition and wants to exploit every crisis as best he can.

“Importantly, the progress is quite significant, with 36,000 new houses last year.

“In 2020, we were at 20,000 per annum. We will be increasing that again by the end of 2026.

“In terms of the Deloitte report, it relies on historical planning permission lapse rates and does not adequately capture the impact of current Government interventions, increased construction capacity or the measures being implemented to accelerate delivery.”

However, Mr Hearne said the median price of a home in 2020 was 255,000 euro, which has increased to nearly 400,000 euro today.

“Six years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in Government have added 140,000 euro to the price of a home,” Mr Hearne added.

“That is their big achievement. Is it any wonder that 70% of young people are considering leaving this country because they cannot afford the Ireland that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have created?

“No matter how hard they work, it is never enough. They cannot afford to move out of home, put down roots in a community or even start a family because the cost of housing and everything else in this country is totally unaffordable.”