MEMBERS OF THE opposition remain unconvinced that incoming-Taoiseach Simon Harris and his Fine Gael will be able to achieve the housing goals laid out in his address to the party’s Ard Fheis yesterday.
In his speech, Harris made a number of promises around taxes and housing, notably the promise that 250,000 homes will be delivered between 2025 and 2030.
Three oppositional TDs acknowledged the optimism of the figures but remained unconvinced that the plans went far enough to deliver the promised target, to tackle homelessness and to increase homeownership.
Speaking to RTÉ’s The Week In Politics today, Harris said the 250,000 homes figure was not a promise that Government would deliver 50,000 homes each year but that the supply of housing would increase over that time.
“It’s not just about setting a target,” Harris told the programme. “It’s about lifting ambition.”
Currently, the Government has rejected claims from opposition that the delivery of housing can be increased to 50,000 homes each year.
Government celebrated the delivery of around 33,000 homes in 2023 and used the figure to defend themselves last month after they missed their own social and affordable housing targets.
Harris today said he also does not believe delivering 50,000 homes each year is currently achievable but believes Government can take measures in order to facilitate the ramping up of home ownership and delivery over time.
The Wicklow TD said by expanding development levies, increasing the help-to-buy scheme and the renters credit, it can assist with the increase delivery of housing while allowing younger renters and first-time buyers to save their money for a deposit.
He added that his address to the party conference was not “just full of ‘we will’, it’s here’s what we’re going to do”.
He said the challenges around housing are not just about ambitions, but are practical issues around financing and delivery. The higher education minister said he wanted to get younger people out of “box rooms”.
Harris rejected what he called “soundbite figures” for housing targets by opposition parties, adding that many of the parties do not have the evidence to support how their goals are achievable.
Oppositional TDs have claimed Harris’ new housing measures do not go far enough and argued that it will continue to lead to higher rents and higher house prices.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin, who is also the party’s spokesperson for housing, said Harris’s plan “offers nothing new” to current Fine Gael policy. Ó Broin said increasing rent tax credits will lead to increases in rent by landlords.
“His [Harris's] Ard Fheis speech offered nothing new in terms of tackling rising homelessness, rising rent or rising house prices. He had nothing to say about how he was going to tackle the affordability crisis,” Ó Brion said this morning.
The Dublin TD said broadening of the help-to-buy scheme won’t increase the supply – meaning people will be able to afford non-existent homes – and that the expansion development levy is not enough to build that supply.
Ó Broin said that, along with what was promised by Harris, there also needs to be a three-year emergency ban on rent increase, expanding planning and procurement procedures to increase the stream of delivery and an increase in the number of affordable homes.
The housing spokesperson said these measures will stop increases in rent, house prices and also allow local authorities and the State to deliver more homes in a faster manner.
Speaking on the same programme as Harris this morning, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon welcomed the 250,000 homes figure but said he was unconvinced Fine Gael will be able to achieve it.
Gannon said a no-fault eviction ban need to be brought back into legislation in order to tackle increases in the number of people who are homeless. “This new energy is exactly the same as the old energy,” Gannon said.
He added: “I’m not convinced by this new energy either.”
Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly also told the programme that the Taoiseach-elect’s plans will lead to increased rent and house prices and argued that the states needs to be more “public houses on public land”.
O’Reilly said Sinn Féin wants to see homeownership in Ireland grow, but did not go as far as Ó Brion to lay out a plan on how to achieve that.
She said Harris making comments about younger people in box rooms is “as if they landed in the back bedroom by accident. It’s government policy”.
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