Housing minister: Target for completions exceeded, but no drop in homeless figures
With Housing Mcverry Pat Social Collins Ceo, Rathmines At Doyle, Peter Housing Darragh The Minister Regeneration O'brien Trust, Project Year Last Charity’s In Chaney/ Photos Picture: Gareth
Ireland has "turned a corner on housing", Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has said, but he cannot commit to a decrease in homeless figures this month.
Mr O'Brien was speaking as the Government announced it had exceeded its housing completions target in 2022, despite missing the targets on social housing.
Figures published by the CSO on Thursday showed 29,851 new dwellings were completed in 2022.
This represents a 45.2% increase on 2021 when 20,560 new were completed and is around 20% above the Government target of 24,600.
However, the minister said that while Ireland has "turned a corner", he accepts that "not everyone feels that" and that there is a "massive job of work" ahead of the Government.
He said that the figures related to the first full year of the Housing For All plan.
However, he added that a briefing note from the Department of Expenditure, which warned that Ireland had delivered 6,500 social homes in 2022, some way below the 8,000 target, was "frankly incorrect".
"We will be much closer to 8,000 new-build social homes than what was attributed (in the note).
"But I personally know and my colleagues know that there are many people right now that don't have a home.
"One of the ways that we're going to do that is by increasing supply and going from 20,000 units in 2021 to 29,851 units in 2022."
Asked if "turning a corner" meant that homeless figures, which are at a record high, would fall, Mr O'Brien said that there had been a "marked slowdown" in the rate of those becoming homeless, but he wants to see a reduction.
"I don't have the figures for this month. The quarterly report will be issued [on Friday]. But we've seen a marked slowdown in homelessness, but I want to see a reduction and a reversal in that."
Asked about reports that the Housing Commission's research calls for the building of 62,000 homes a year, Mr O'Brien said that targets in Housing For All are "a baseline" and that scaling up the construction industry was a challenge.
"There isn't the capacity to do that. But we're moving in that direction."
The housing minister was also marking the publication of the 700-page Planning and Development Bill 2023, which was approved by Cabinet late last year.
The bill had caused some consternation among Green Party TDs as it places limits on who can bring a legal case against a development. However, it has not been altered between its approval and publication.
Mr O'Brien said that the bill came from "all of government", adding that there was "no one in government" who believed that the current planning system should not be changed.