Sinn Féin spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, Louise O’Reilly TD, said Ibec’s ‘Better Housing, Better Business’ report is further evidence that the housing crisis, and the government’s failure to address it, is damaging the economy as well as society.

Teachta O’Reilly said:

“For over a decade Sinn Féin has been highlighting how the housing crisis was damaging our economic competitiveness and threatening social cohesion.

“Today’s ‘Better Housing, Better Business’ report from Ibec reinforces this and lays out how the housing crisis has caused critical economic and social problems for the State.

“The report outlines how the crisis housing is ‘becoming the critical barrier to the continued growth and development of business investment’ and ‘has increasingly become a concern in relation to cohesion in the workplace and society more broadly’.

“Reading between the lines, the report is an excoriation of government policy and failure to date in relation to housing.

“The criticism from Ibec comes on the back of similar critiques from organisations such as The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC), who previously pointed out the damage the housing crisis was having on our economic competitiveness and productivity.

“This government, like its predecessors, are caught in an ideological quagmire in terms of housing policy, and only a change of government, and change of Housing Minister, will truly address the housing crisis for the betterment of society and the economy.”