'Fatally flawed' Government housing plan means shortfall of 245,000 homes
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The Government’s housing plan is “fatally flawed” and is committing the country to a permanent worsening housing crisis by failing to meet the demand for homes, the Dáil has heard.
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty said even if the Government met its 2030 targets under its Housing for All plan, there would be a shortfall of 245,000 homes.
He said that was an alarming situation for everybody, for those struggling to find affordable accommodation and for those who will need affordable accommodation in the years ahead.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, he said Sinn Féin had argued as far back as 2020 that the real demand was above 40,000 new homes per year when pent-up demand for social and affordable housing was taken into account.
“But since then, we've had three years of under supply despite continued population growth. So it is obvious that the Government's housing targets need to be revised and revised up significantly and revised up immediately,” he said.
“The current targets aren't based on evidence or objective assessment of needs. Instead, they are the result of political manoeuvering, boasting that the targets are met when the targets themselves are clearly, clearly flawed,” Mr Doherty added.
Mr Doherty said the Government’s plan has been “fatally undermined” by the Housing Commission established by the Government.
Responding for the Government, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said no one disagreed with the need for more supply and urgency, but he said Sinn Féin in government would scrap the new Land Development Agency.
Mr Ryan told Labour leader Ivana Bacik she “needs her head examined” after she raised the controversial forestry deal involving a UK investment fund, calling for it to be scrapped.
“It's a deal which we believe is wrong on many levels. It will be an arrangement which will facilitate the handing over of millions of euros of public money into the wallets of private investors and vulture funds,” she said.
Ms Bacik said the deal had drawn immense criticism and outrage from across all sectors — urban and rural alike — from environmentalists to farmers to local communities.
Even deputies on Government benches are making clear their opposition to the partnership between Coillte and Gresham House, she said.
Ms Bacik said it was not just the opposition making these critiques.
She referenced a leaked document published in Thursday’s Irish Examiner in which the European Commission criticised Ireland's forestry policy in a scathing letter.
“It is highlighting particular concerns around planting on peat lands and the impact on birds. So the commission has been critical of this the state aid application, which is the bedrock of the Government's proposed change in forestry policy. This has not even yet been submitted,” she said.