Social Democrats Co-Leader Catherine Murphy has said it is completely unacceptable that the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, is unable to provide accurate figures regarding the amount of housing units built last year. She said that despite this lack of knowledge the Minister was irresponsibly making unfounded claims about Government exceeding its targets.
Catherine Murphy said:
“Yet again the Minister and this Government are relying on grandiose statements when it comes to Housing but the facts don’t exist to underpin the bravado. To say you are exceeding building targets while acknowledging that you have no idea how many units were built is just ludicrous. It shows a complete disregard for the human cost of the current housing crisis and the Minister should be embarrassed to preside over a Department that is not capable of providing the most basic of figures.”
“This is yet another example of why the Social Democrats have repeatedly called for the establishment of a dedicated Housing Delivery Agency which would undertake a project management role in relation to the building of new units. Such an agency would ensure that there were clear targets which are met in a timely fashion thus increasing supply and ensuring affordability.”
“The Minister’s inability or unwillingness to provide figures today shows once again this Government’s complete disregard for openness and accountability when it comes to matters of such public interest.”
ENDS
15th January 2018