The State will spend more than €6 billion on public housing this year as experts estimate it will require €20 billion of investment annually to get the number of houses being built each year up to 50,000, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
“Housing is the number one issue facing the country – on that there is no doubt. I have said that repeatedly.
“The issue I am interested in is the ‘how’ to get from 30,000 houses to 50,000 [per year]. That is what politicians should focus – local authorities and all State agencies should focus on.”
Mr Martin defended the Government’s plan to exempt log cabins in back gardens from planning permission, saying people “need to get into solution mode here in terms of housing”, though he conceded that while it will make some contribution to the problem, it “will not be a massive contribution”.
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“The real issue will be both increased public expenditure and how we bring increased private sector investment into the apartment area, because that is the area that has not grown to the degree we would have liked. That will be the focus.
“Because people are estimating that we will need about €20 billion of an investment to get to 50,000 houses on an annual ongoing basis. Clearly, there has to be private sector investment,” said Mr Martin, adding he was taken aback at people’s reactions when he first suggested a major role for the private sector in solving the problem.
“I [was] surprised when I said this some weeks ago and people reacted … in some cases almost hysterically and negatively. It is just common sense given the scale of the challenge ... we have to use mechanisms to get private sector investment increased, but also strong public sector investment.”
Mr Martin said public-sector investment in housing this year will top €6 billion, making the State the major player in the housing market, but he added the Government must ensure this investment is properly targeted so the State gets the best value for its money.
“We have to look at issues like the cost of finance to develop housing – the interplay and collaboration between all of the agencies, approved housing bodies. Much of that is actually to get over the cost of financing of bigger projects. Those issues have to be interrogated even more again.”
Asked about a Department of Finance update on housing in which it cast doubts on the Government’s use of commencement figures as an accurate forecast for the number of houses to be built in the coming year, Mr Martin was somewhat defensive.
Government Ministers have on numerous occasions pointed to the more than 60,000 commencement notices issued last year, but the Department of Finance has warned such notices are “volatile” and may not be an accurate measure of actual house-building.
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“I’m surprised at that [Department of Finance update] because they are what they are, they are commencement notices – if people want to draw down the waiver of development levies by the end of 2026, the houses have to be completed.”
Mr Martin was speaking after officially opening a Focus Housing Association project providing 13 new apartment homes for some 16 people following the conversion of the former Dairygold Agri Division headquarters in Mallow into an apartment complex.
He welcomed the remodelled high-quality B1-rated apartments in Mallow’s West End, saying they not only provided much needed accommodation for people on the Cork County Council housing waiting list but would help foster community development in the town.
“By bringing disused buildings like this back to life, this Focus Housing Association scheme in particular with Cork County Council is providing much needed, well-connected and sustainable homes for 16 people,” said Mr Martin.
“Access to housing is not just about a roof over your head, it is about building communities of people with secure homes, and access to amenities, to give them every opportunity to build a future for themselves and their families.”
Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan said the charity “strongly supports urban renewal projects and the upcycling of historic buildings, such as this one in Mallow”, as he revealed it currently has 1,701 properties under its management and aims to add another 1,150 homes to it stock.
