Repeated claims by the previous government that up to 40,000 homes would be built in 2024 have been exposed as pure fiction by Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures published today, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.
“The CSO has confirmed that a total of 30,330 homes were built last year – a decrease of 6.7 per cent on 2023.
“The extent of the drop in housing output is nothing short of shocking. Not only is it almost 10,000 less than the former government’s projections, it also around 3,000 homes short of the most optimistic predictions by economic commentators.
“Despite repeated claims by the previous government – including from Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Darragh O’Brien – that we would see accelerated levels of housing completions in the last quarter of the year, this has now been exposed for the pre-election bluster that it was.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have consistently demonstrated that they are completely incapable of hitting their own housing targets – targets that were already unambitious to begin with.
“It calls into question the commitment in the new Programme for Government to deliver 300,000 homes over the next five years. These notional targets have no realistic chance of being achieved unless there is a radical reset of housing policy, as called for by the Housing Commission.
“Today’s CSO figures are alarming. While it was always difficult to believe the fanciful claim that 40,000 homes would be built in 2024, the decrease in house completions is far worse than we feared.”
January 23, 2025