Housing for All plan “political spin” says O’Callaghan

Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan has attacked the Government’s Housing for All Plan as “political spin.”

O’Callaghan, recently elected as the party’s deputy leader and serves as party spokesperson on housing, said “this so-called progress report does not shed any light on how this Government will get to grips with the crisis – rather, it presents 53 pages of rehashed information and political spin.”

“There are some glaring omissions in the report. For instance, it contains no affordable housing delivery figures for the first half of 2023 and fails to mention that last year’s affordable housing targets were missed by some distance. It is also disappointing, but not surprising, that 13 actions in the Housing for All plan have been delayed.”

“The scale of delivery under this Minister for Housing has been pathetic. Just 323 affordable purchase homes and 684 cost rental homes were completed last year when the Government had promised 4,100 affordable homes.”

“Housing is the most pressing issue facing people in this country, rents continue to skyrocket, house prices are past their Celtic Tiger peak, hundreds of thousands of young adults are stuck living at home and homelessness is at its highest level in the history of the State.”

“People need to see an emergency response to the housing crisis – pointless reports filled with future promises will help no one,” he said.

O’Callaghan has been a vocal opponent of the Government’s track record on housing, with the Dublin Bay North TD saying the “dysfunctional” rental market is contributing to record levels of homelessness in Ireland.