Sinn Féin spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Rose Conway Walsh TD, has said the ESRI review of the government’s National Development Plan published today should be a wake up call for the government.

The review confirms that the government’s housing targets are far too low and that not enough homes are being built to meet demand. The review also backs Sinn Féin’s calls for directing construction focus towards housing need; to end the housing crisis.

Speaking today, Teachta Conway Walsh said:

“Today’s report by the ESRI confirms what Sinn Féin have been saying for a long time. The government’s housing targets are far too low. Plans to deliver housing fall far short of what is needed to end the housing crisis. 

“The report also backs Sinn Féin’s long-standing proposal that moving construction focus from offices and hotels towards delivering homes for workers and families could be funded using targeted tax measures and make a real difference in getting to grips with the housing crisis.

“The report should make for sober reading for a government who spend more time backslapping than delivering.

“After 13 years in Government it lays bare the lack of ambition and failure to realise the scale of investment needed to address decades of neglect.

“The National Development Plan has not been adjusted to take into account huge inflation in construction costs.We are allocating the same amount of money as if inflation never happened. This is essentially a substantial cut in ambition in real terms. It is ordinary people who will pay the price for Government’s failure to plan and invest.

“Budget 2024 was an opportunity to address the shortfall in capital investment.  The government failed to do this. In our Alternative Budget, Sinn Féin set out how this could be delivered.

“IFAC has warned that there will be a €19 billion black hole in our capital budget by 2030 and that €2.7 billion extra is needed each year from 2024 to 2030. This is just what is needed for the same projects outlined in the NDP in 2021 to be delivered.

“We are in desperate need of homes, health projects, water infrastructure, road, rail and grid infrastructure.

“It is clear that every day this government remain in office, the housing crisis is getting worse and worse. Workers and families are forced to pay the price for this government’s failed housing policy, trapped paying sky high rents while watching their dream of owning their own home slipping further and further from reach.

“It’s time for change. Sinn Féin have a detailed, fully costed and workable plan to deliver genuinely affordable homes. Housing would be the number one priority of a Sinn Féin government.”