“Government’s time is up” says O’Callaghan amid sky-high housing prices

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that house prices have become increasingly out of reach for ordinary workers, according to Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan.

The Dublin Bay North TD, who is also the party’s spokesperson on housing, noted that house prices have jumped 7.9% between April 2023 and 2024.

The median price of a home is €335,000, nationwide, rising to what O’Callaghan calls a “staggering” €448,750 in Dublin.

He noted that the rise in house prices is juxtaposed against record levels of homelessness and rents that are among the highest in Europe.

“The housing crisis is affecting people all over the county and it’s becoming increasingly clear that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have no interest in making home ownership more affordable,” he said.

The government’s much-scrutinised Planning and Development bill has become the hot Dáil issue in recent weeks, and O’Callaghan asserted that the government had no interest in listening to the opposition’s proposals.

“I put forward a series of amendments to the Planning and Development Bill that would have ensured a consistent supply of new affordable homes to bring down the cost of housing; these included putting affordability as a key objective of the National Planning Framework; creating a new zoning for affordable housing; and implementing the recommendations of the Kenny Report by using compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to buy land for affordable and social housing,” he explained.

“Inexplicably, the Government refused to accept any of these proposals and instead guillotined the debate last week, with over 600 amendments still to be discussed.”

He remarked “this government seems determined to keep house prices artificially high. This is locking an entire generation out of home ownership and forcing many to look overseas for a chance to start an independent life.”

“This coalition leaders are dropping like flies, the Minister for Housing is floundering, and ordinary people are paying the consequences. The Government’s time is up.”