Sinn Féin TD says 'not a snowball's chance' 40,000 homes were built last year

Leading Opposition party Sinn Féin has hit out at Government parties, accusing them of misleading the public by knowingly using inaccurate information while campaigning for the General Election.

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane made reference to figures from the Central Statistics Office which showed that there was not "a snowball's chance" that 40,000 homes were built last year.

According to the figures from October 2024, a total of 30,330 houses were built which showed a decrease of 6.7% in comparison to the number of homes built in 2023.

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Deputy Cullinane also accused Fine Gael of hardwiring the 40,000 figure into their manifesto and claimed Tánaiste Simon Harris was "up to his neck" in the controversy as a result.

While speaking in the Dáil, Mr Cullinane further pointed out that while the Government continues to "have its head in the sand" it is widely known to experts what needs doing to solve the housing crisis.

Sinn Féin Housing Spokesman Eoin O'Bróin further compounded the deputy's comments on Today with Claire Byrne where he said: "The targets that they (the Government) have set out, both global targets for all new housing but also within social and affordable housing, are far too low."

"They're not just lower than what I believe is necessary, they're lower than what the Housing Commission, the Government's own independent commission, recommended last year, a report that the Government has completely ignored and isn't in the Programme for Government."

Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne also appeared on Today with Claire Byrne and described the Government's claim that 40,000 were to be built in 2024 as a "genuine mistake".

Mr. Byrne said: "Yes, we got the figures wrong around housing, it wasn’t a case of trying to deceive anybody, housing is the Government’s number one priority."

Deputy Byrne described the Government's push of the 40,000 figure came from them "aspiring to build more houses than were actually built".

He said: ""There were reasons as to why last year there were a number of apartment complexes for instance which were due to be completed and for a variety of reasons didn't get completed during 2024.

"But if you look at the pipeline of housing that’s coming now, we are seeing significant developments."

Deputy Byrne added: "There were still over 30,000 homes completed last year."

Meanwhile in the Dáil, Tánaiste Simon Harris responded to Deputy Cullinane by saying that the people of Ireland had dismissed Sinn Féin's housing plan and claimed that the party's vote "had collapsed".

The Tánaiste also said the Government wanted to get people out of box rooms in their childhood homes and support them in giving them the ability to own their own homes.

Simon Harris said that there were over 60,000 home commencement notices in the last year and "as sure as night follows day" this will result in more homes being delivered.

Mr. O'Bróin told Claire Byrne that the Housing Commission's targets were "about right" but due to the report being published a year ago and the targets not met, the targets need to be updated independently by the CSO, ESRI and the housing agency.

Mr. Ó Broin also denied the Government's claims that social housing waiting lists are falling and that a housing agency report showed that they are rising.

He said: "The solutions that are required to increase and accelerate both public and private housing are there. They have been written down, they have been published, and this Government is ignoring them."