More needs to be done to incentivise the redevelopment of old “brownfield” industrial sites in cities, to increase housing supply, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
The Government is set to consider proposals to encourage more private developers to build housing. Sources have indicated some form of incentive scheme offering tax breaks is one option likely to be brought to the table.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Martin said there would be a renewed focus on what could be done to prompt redevelopment of old industrial sites.
“There has been a long standing commitment to developing brownfield sites, for example in our cities. They haven’t developed at the pace that we would have liked, that’s the bottom line,” he said.
Trump’s adoption of imperial manner is a function of failure
Gerry Thornley: There is a theory France losing to England is good for Ireland, but is it?
Regretting working outside the home: ‘We’re told to parent like we don’t work. And work like we don’t parent’
Should I charge my homebird adult children rent?
“We’ve got to fundamentally look at all aspects of housing policy to get more construction, to get more houses built as fast as we possibly can,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
There needed to be a more “consistent pipeline” of housing construction and development, he said.
“The brownfield sites are a problem in terms of getting a sufficiency of construction in sites in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, so forth. So we will look at that. No decisions have been made as of yet, and obviously these are matters to be considered by Government,” he said.
Opposition TDs have been quick to criticise the Government’s consideration of fresh tax incentives for private investors in housing.
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the that the idea shows “the absolute poverty of ideas coming from the Government in terms of how to address the housing crisis”.
He said developers of brownfield lands need serviced sites, lower cost finance and more timely planning permissions and said Sinn Féin and the Housing Commission had proposals in this area to address these issues.
Mr Ó Broin accused Mr Martin of “resorting to failed Celtic Tiger-era fiscal policies that will do nothing to increase or accelerate development but will push up development cost and ultimately the cost of buying or renting a home.”
Rory Hearne, the Social Democrats' housing spokesman said the proposals would be “recycling failed policies”. They represented the same overall approach as the Housing for All and Rebuilding Ireland plans brought in by recent governments which, he said, “is trying to incentivise the private sector to deliver housing.”
Mr Hearne said there needs to be “a fundamental shift towards developing public sector capacity to deliver housing”.
Labour Party housing spokesman Conor Sheehan claimed that voters were “misled” during the election about Fianna Fáil’s housing plans.
“I don’t recall either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael promoting tax breaks for developers during the election nor is it outlined in the Programme for Government.”
Mr Sheehan also referred to a Labour Party motion setting out proposals for tackling the housing crisis and said it “sets out our case for radical change, not more pandering to investors”.
He added: “The Government is out of ideas, and unless it changes course the housing crisis will only deepen.”
The Taoiseach said there was a need for both the State and the private construction sector to play a role in building homes. “We’re now close to delivering over 10,000 social houses every year. The State investment is the key, and it’s a major investment, but you need both. You need State and private sector investment,” he said.
Mr Martin pointed to figures showing an increase in the number of housing units under construction in Dublin. Figures published in the 4Dublin Housing Supply Pipeline report show a 26 per cent increase to 19,380 homes, year on year in the third quarter of last year.
Mr Martin was speaking to journalists in Paris, where he was attending a summit on artificial intelligence (AI) organised by French president Emmanuel Macron.
The Government is reviewing several aspects of housing policy, which may include changes to the current rules capping rent increases.
The existing system of designating areas as rent pressure zones (RPZs), where rents cannot be increased above 2 per cent a year, may be phased out. Proposals being discussed would see a “reference rent” system introduced instead, where any increases would be linked to a reference rent for local homes of a similar quality, rather than the 2 per cent cap.
Meanwhile EU trade ministers have been called to an emergency meeting on Wednesday after US president Donald Trump’s announcements on tariffs overnight. Ministers – including Simon Harris, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade – are due to meet virtually on Wednesday afternoon. They will be briefed by European Commission officials on the EU’s response to the tariffs announced by the US president.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
