‘Government may have grossly overstated home completion numbers for 2022,’ says O’Callaghan

Social Democrats Housing spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan says that figures published today suggest that the Government may be significantly overstating the number of homes completed in 2022.

“There is a huge discrepancy between the 23,751 figure reported by Construction Information Services (CIS) and the almost 30,000 home completions claimed by the Government,” Deputy O’Callaghan said.

“The CIS estimates are based on figures from the National Building Control Office, the body responsible for certifying home completions.

“However, the Government has been calculating its home completion numbers using Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, which is primarily based on new connections to the ESB network.

“Clearly, the CSO figures paint a more flattering picture for the Government and the Minister for Housing has been quick to boast about the number of home completions for 2022 exceeding the original 24,600 target.

“Despite patting themselves on the back, it now appears that these figures may have been grossly inflated.

“In the interest of transparency, it is vital that the 6,000-unit difference between the CIS figures and the CSO’s is analysed.

“The Government must provide a full breakdown of all homes delivered last year and explain on what basis that they do not accept the validity of the data compiled by the National Building Control Office.

“We need to be sure there is no forward counting going on and that the information put into the public domain by the Government is accurate and stands up to scrutiny.”