A Cabinet minister has claimed that the Government is “winning” the fight against the housing crisis, reports Breaking News.
The Central Bank has forecast that the Government will fall significantly short of its housing targets over the next three years, following an underperformance in 2024.
Enterprise Minister Peter Burke insisted he would “contest strongly” any claim that the Government’s housing strategy was failing, reports Breaking News.
He argued that the Government had achieved its targets “at scale” in both 2023 and 2022.
Speaking on RTÉ’s *The Week in Politics*, Burke said: “I’m trying to explain exactly what we’re doing and how we are winning this battle.”
He added: “We’re starting to turn the tide. It’s going to take time. Absolutely, it will take time, I have no doubt in that,” reports Breaking News.
Sinn Féin TD Mairead Farrell immediately condemned the remarks, calling the minister “out of touch.”
Appearing on the same programme, she said: “I’m just absolutely shocked at what the minister just said, that they’re winning the battle in terms of housing. They are losing the battle.
“And the biggest losers in this are the people who are indirectly impacted by the housing crisis that has festered and gotten worse under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael,” reports Breaking News.
Meanwhile, Housing Minister James Browne acknowledged that the housing situation remains “challenging” but argued it was still “very early” to draw conclusions from projections.
He declined to comment on whether the Central Bank’s forecasts would be accurate, saying: “Only time will tell whether the reports are right or wrong,” reports Breaking News.
When asked how the Government could meet its housing target of 41,000 homes this year when Uisce Éireann has said it can only connect 35,000, the minister responded that additional funding would be provided and that a National Development Plan would be announced in the summer.
He added: “I’m confident that everything that can be done to maximise the delivery houses will be done,” reports Breaking News.
He said: “Where a lot of those predictions that we won’t meet our targets, I think are based around the issue with delivering those apartments in Dublin. Housing outside of Dublin, generally speaking, is moving along, relatively speaking, on target. We have to do something quite radical to get those apartments going again,” reports Breaking News.
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