Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has said that the government is failing to prioritise the delivery of genuinely affordable homes.

Teachta Ó Broin’s comments come following the latest CSO Residential Property Price Index report for September, which shows that house prices across the state have risen by 12.4%.

The Dublin Mid-West TD said:

“The latest CSO Residential Property Price Index report is a grim read. In the last 12 months, house prices have increased by 12.4% across the state, with prices in Dublin rising by 11.5% and prices outside Dublin increasing by 13.2%.

“The report also shows that in the last eight years, house prices across the state have increased by an incredible 106.5%.

“This continued, unsustainable rise in house prices is directly related to the pro-developer housing policies of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens.

“Despite all this government’s rhetoric about supporting homeownership, they only invested a miserable additional €60m in its affordable purchase fund in Budget 2022.

“This will fund around 600 new affordable purchase homes next year. This is clearly both inadequate and unambitious.

“If this government was serious about reducing house prices, it would prioritise investment in the large-scale delivery of affordable homes to rent and buy and abandon its developer driven supply side schemes.

“Sinn Féin in government would prioritise the delivery of 2,000 genuinely affordable purchase homes a year as part of an overall investment of €3bn in public housing in 2022.”