Taoiseach refuses to confirm if he was made aware of housing claims report

Taoiseach Micheál Martin came under pressure to reveal whether he was passed this information by then-finance minister Jack Chambers.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the report was handed to the minister days before the general election was called in early November last year.

Senior government figures have been criticised for claiming during the election campaign that close to 40,000 new homes would be built in 2024, which would have been far in excess of its own targets.

This was despite the Central Bank projecting in its September Quarterly Bulletin that completions would hit around 32,000.

Data published by the Central Statistics Office earlier this year revealed that only a total of 30,330 new homes were completed last year – below the target in the 'Housing for All' plan of 33,450 new-builds in 2024.

Opposition parties have continuously accused the Government of misleading the public on its housing figures.

Ms McDonald said: “The government knew in advance of the general election that you hadn’t a hope of hitting 40,000 new homes for 2024.

“Just days before the general election was called, then-finance minister and Fianna Fáil deputy leader Jack Chambers was handed an important report by the Department of Finance, and that report laid out in black and white that 40,000 homes would not be delivered.

“Nobody could seriously believe that the minister would have kept that information from government on the eve of an election.

“It was too important, so I assume he shared it with you.

“What I know is that minister Chambers did not tell the public. On the contrary, two days after receiving this report, with the general election under way, he made the claim that government was on course to deliver 40,000 homes. And this untruth was repeated by you, by (Tánaiste) Simon Harris, by (former housing minister) Darragh O’Brien, again and again throughout the campaign.”

There's now a mountain of evidence that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael deliberately misrepresented housing delivery figures during the election.

Social Democrat deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan called on the Taoiseach to confirm whether or not the former finance minister shared the analysis from the department with ministers.

“There’s now a mountain of evidence that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael deliberately misrepresented housing delivery figures during the election,” Mr O’Callaghan told the Dáil.

“You cannot continue to deny it. This is a comical alley routine that you’re playing in terms of pretending this is somehow an honest mistake. Not content with massaging last year’s figures, targets for this year are now being clearly reverse engineered.”

He accused Mr Martin of refusing to give an answer when asked about this year’s housing targets.

Defending the Government’s position on the housing targets, Mr Martin said there were a number of projections throughout 2024 regarding housing completions.

“We’ve exceeded targets, and particularly in 2022 and 2023, we exceeded Central Bank targets. We exceeded other targets who felt we would come in lower. That’s the position,” Mr Martin added.

“The first quarter of the following year is when the statistics come in, and there are a variety of publications. Data was published in September by Central Bank and others. But the Central Bank had come in lower in previous years.

“It was extremely disappointing that we didn’t make those targets in 2024. The overall 'Housing for All' targets were exceeded in that three-year period. But that’s not enough. We have to build more houses and build them faster.”

Meanwhile, Mr Martin also defended comments he made in the White House about Ireland’s housing crisis.

It came after the crisis was described as a “good problem” to have by US president Donald Trump during their meeting last week, claiming it was because the country was “doing so well”.

In response, Mr Martin told Mr Trump that it was a “pretty good answer”.

Ms McDonald said Mr Martin was in the Oval Office “laughing about Ireland’s housing crisis”.

She added: “The American president stated that the housing crisis is because Ireland is doing so well, that it’s a good problem.

“You replied, ‘that’s a pretty good answer, Mr President’. But Taoiseach, do you think it’s a pretty good answer for people locked out of home ownership, for renters crucified with rip-off rents, for young people unable to get a start in life, choosing between staying at home with their parents or going to Australia.

“Do you think it’s a good answer for mothers and fathers forced into homelessness, for children being raised in B&Bs and in hotel rooms.

“Your sniggering interaction hurt a lot of people. Taoiseach, you made light of their suffering, so government misleads people on housing at home and then laughs at them while rubbing shoulders with the powerful abroad.”

Mr Martin rejected the accusations, and described Ms McDonald’s comments as “pathetic”.

“You accuse me of spoofing. I mean, get off the stage. Come off the stage,” he added.

“No one was sniggering at any housing problem. You know that. It’s pathetic, the protestations and your attempt to exploit that particular moment and so forth, and completely oblivious and refusing to reference the actual substance in terms of what I said.”

Labour leader Ivana Bacik was also critical of the Taoieach’s remarks at the White House.

“I think we were all surprised to learn that, in fact, these systemic failures were not the root causes of the housing crisis, the spiralling rents, unaffordable house prices and shamefully, rising record figures in homelessness. This apparently is because we’re doing so well in Ireland,” she said.

“‘It’s a good problem, not a bad problem’. The words of president Trump, you might clarify if it’s a view you share Taoiseach, because in reply, you said, ‘that’s a very good answer, President’.

“I’m sure that’s not the response you would give the Irish people today. And in fairness, Taoiseach, and I acknowledge this, you did continue on to elaborate that we do have to build more houses, and we do have to build them more quickly.

“I think we all agree with that, but what we’re not seeing from your Government is any sign of the necessary urgency or ambition, or any new ideas that would actually enable us to build more homes more quickly.”