Hearne accuses Minister for Housing of ‘cooking the books’

Social Democrats TD and housing spokesperson Rory Hearne has accused Minister for Housing James Browne of “cooking the books” on the government’s delivery of affordable housing.

Hearne pointed to Q1 figures, published by the Department of Housing, which included grants to refurbish vacant homes under the First Home scheme.

Hearne noted that the scheme itself has not been drawn up yet.

“Incredibly, the government is now presenting figures in which nearly 50 percent of its affordable-purchase home delivery are actually grants that have been allocated after people have already bought homes,” he noted.

The Dublin North-West TD said, “damningly, the figures also reveal that the number of purchases under the tenant in situ scheme have collapsed, from 34 in Q1 2024 to just 15 in Q1 this year. This was the only scheme that was keeping individuals and families out of homelessness and its effective wind down by the government is shameful.”

The Soc Dems TD said that the figures are a symptom of continued government failure in the housing sector, and how the government’s attempts to supersede local authorities are not working.

Dublin City Council has criticised Minister Browne for pulling rank on housing without councillors being informed, and this approach, per Hearne, is delivering worse results.

“In the first three months of this year, just 10 cost-rental homes were delivered by local authorities – and just 113 in total,” he noted.

“This government’s record on housing continues to be one of abject failure. No attempts to massage figures, or cook the books, can hide that. Rather than admitting that his housing plan is a disaster, the Minister has doubled down on failure and is now resorting to ripping up apartment standards, and rent regulation, in order to boost delivery. This won’t work either.

“Instead of kowtowing to developers and investment funds, the government needs a radical reset of housing policy. For a start, it should adopt and implement the Social Democrats’ ‘Home for Ireland Saving Account’ to raise private capital to invest in social and affordable housing.”