Housing Commission report must be published this week, says Bacik

Labour leader and party housing spokesperson Ivana Bacik has called out Government for failing to publish the Housing Commission report into the true level of housing need.

As the Dáil returns from recess this Wednesday, Deputy Bacik said that Minister O’Brien needs to be upfront about the true level of housing need, and that the government must amend the Housing for All targets accordingly.

“We need to see much more urgent action on housing – and the government must urgently adopt a credible target for delivery that reflects the real level of housing need,” Deputy Bacik said.

“The Taoiseach confirmed to me last December that the housing targets would be increased for 2024, but the reality is that the proposed increase of 5,000 for this year (bringing the revised targets for 2024 to 38,450) is far too low and will not come anywhere near to delivering the numbers of homes needed.

“It has been widely reported that the Housing Commission report will recommend increasing annual targets to over 50,000 new builds per year, a figure much closer to the real level of need.

“Media reports indicate that this figure is ‘evidence based’. So I am calling on the Government to publish the Housing Commission report into the housing need that it appears to have been sitting on now for over six months.

“As we know, this Government has utterly failed on delivery of homes. In 2022, only 6,500 social homes were delivered, well below the Government target of 9,000.

“The Minister remains far too reliant on private developers to pick up the pieces where this Government is failing to build, failing to invest and failing to treat housing like the crisis it is.

“There has been a particular failure to deliver affordable homes to make home ownership a possibility for low and middle income earners. Without affordable homes to buy, too many people are trapped in the rental market, unable to save for a mortgage and taking up rental property that might have gone to someone else.

“The Minister and this Government need to step in and step up. They must publish the Housing Commission report urgently and set a credible target for delivery of much-needed homes. What’s missing from government now is the political will to build homes, prioritising social and affordable housing.”