Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has called on the government to come clean on their housing targets.

The call by the Dublin Mid West TD was made in response to a Department of Finance memo which stated that ‘the official completions target of 33,000 units per annum is significantly below the actual need.’

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“This weekend, the Business Post revealed that the Department of Finance is the latest body to tell the government that their housing targets are wrong.

“In a memo to the Minister for Finance, the Department said that ‘the official completions target of 33,000 units per annum is significantly below the actual need’.

“The same memo said that the real level of need was 50,000 new homes a year.

“The targets underpinning the government’s housing plan were wrong from the outset. They were based on outdated 2016 census data. They also did not include a calculation of unmet or pent-up demand.

“The government knew this at the time, but chose to proceed with the inadequate targets for clearly political reasons.

“Opposition parties, including Sinn Féin, industry bodies and independent academics, have all called out the inadequate targets since the publication of their housing plan in 2021.

“The Housing Commission is shortly due to issue its report including independent estimates of housing need to the Minister for Housing.

“There must be no more massaging of housing need figures. The Minister must publish the report immediately upon receiving it.

“He must also commit to an annual independent review of the figures involving the CSO, Housing Agency and ESRI. That review must assess unmet demand, new household formation and population growth to ensure we have an accurate and independent assessment of need.

“That assessment must also include an objective breakdown of how many social, affordable cost rental, affordable purchase, private rental and private for purchase homes are needed to meet current and emerging need.”