THERE ARE OMINOUS signs that the new government is planning to dust off failed Celtic Tiger policies and hackneyed ideas to tackle the housing and rental crises in Ireland.

We know from recent history what that means – and where it got us.

It means, just weeks after getting back into office, Fianna Fáil have reverted to type by planning further tax breaks for developers and sweetheart deals for investor funds. Seemingly intent on dragging us back to the 19th century, the government is creating a generation of renters who have become long-term tenants of international funds.

Not only that, but the Taoiseach has also signalled his intention to end Rent Pressure Zones (though the Taoiseach denies this) – one of the few protections available to hard-pressed tenants in Ireland.

The fact there has already been pushback to these proposals from Finance Minister Paschal Donohue and Tánaiste Simon Harris shows the level of dysfunction within government and proves that its housing plan is in complete disarray.

It has also emerged that a row within government is delaying the construction of hundreds of social and affordable homes through Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs).
This is hardly the radical reset of housing policy recommended by the government’s own Housing Commission.

That is why, today, the Social Democrats will bring a motion before the Dáil calling for a range of measures to address the housing emergency.

Our proposals include the closure of loopholes that allow investment funds to aggressively avoid tax; a 100% stamp duty rate on the bulk purchase of homes, which would amount to an effective ban on the practice; and an increase in early-stage finance to Approved Housing Bodies and local authorities so they can ramp up the delivery of genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy.

Rents at record high

We also want Rent Pressure Zones retained until such a time there is an alternative system in place that can protect renters. Rents are already at record highs, having more than doubled in a decade and increased by 34% during the lifetime of the last government.

Tellingly, within 24 hours of the Taoiseach’s remarks on RTÉ radio about Rent Pressure Zones the share price of the State’s largest private landlord, Ires Reit, soared to its highest level in eight months. There is little doubt about who stands to gain most from the erosion of protections for renters – and it’s not the 83% who live in private tenancies in Rent Pressure Zones.

The Taoiseach must immediately end the uncertainty and fear his comments have caused to tenants by committing to keeping rent caps in place until a better solution is found.

The government also needs to introduce a rent register, something the Soc Dems have been demanding for a long time. Renters should be able to check, though an independent source, what previous tenants were paying for a property. This already happens for house purchases so there’s no reason it should not also apply to rents.

In typical Fianna Fáil fashion, this government is sticking to its belief that the only way to get more finance to build homes is to incentivise funds and private developers.

In doing so, it is turning a blind eye to alternative EU streams of finance available to them, such as InvestEU and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – something that was recommended in an expert report commissioned by Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews in 2023.

In addition, there are other innovative ways that finance could be secured for housing.

For instance, our motion proposes a savings scheme based on the French Livret A model.

This would allow the State to leverage some of the €160bn in Irish household savings – money that is earning negligible interest – and invest it in affordable housing.

These are the types of initiatives the government needs to embrace. Because housing delivery in Ireland is not just slowing down – it is reducing.

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The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and former Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien repeatedly promised to deliver 40,000 homes last year but spectacularly failed to achieve this. By the end of the year, just 30,330 homes were completed – down nearly 7% on 2023’s figures.

The government has refused to admit that it hoodwinked the public with its claims, despite data from the Central Bank, ESRI and CSO showing that its exaggerated targets were never going to be reached.

It makes the commitment in the Programme for Government to deliver 300,000 homes between now and 2030 ring hollow. 

The government’s housing plan is a social disaster.

Last week, research published by Accord, the marriage preparation and counselling service, found that the cost of owning a house is causing 84% of adults to delay getting married or having children.

It’s little wonder there are over 500,000 adults stuck in their childhood bedrooms, unable to start independent lives.

The Taoiseach has said that a reset of housing policy will involve “very difficult political decisions” and the government will need to “pivot more strongly to the private sector”.
If this is the government’s key solution to the housing crisis, then we can only fear that things are about to get a lot worse.

Rory Hearne is a Social Democrats TD for Dublin North-West and is the party’s spokesperson on housing. He is the author of ‘Gaffs – why no one can get a house… and what we can do about it’