The Taoiseach was asked a simple question, which he did not answer. Did the Minister for Finance share with him the analysis from the Department of Finance that the 40,000 homes claim was not going to materialise last year? Did he share that analysis with the Taoiseach before the election date? The Taoiseach might answer this question because he has been asked twice and he has not answered it. The Taoiseach promised that 40,000 homes would be delivered last year, and we know that just 30,300 homes were delivered. Last week we learned that the number of planning permissions collapsed by almost 22% in 2024. Today the Central Bank is telling us the Government will miss its housing targets for the next three years. We also learned today that house prices have increased by 8.1% over the past year. Instead of accepting responsibility for this during these questions, what we have heard from the Taoiseach today is spin, bluster, deflection and accusing the Opposition of engaging in propaganda, when he is the one who told the electorate that 40,000 homes would be delivered last year.
Sentiment score: 0.13
There is now a mountain of evidence that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael deliberately misrepresented housing delivery figures during the election. The Taoiseach cannot continue to deny it. This is a Comical Ali routine he is playing in pretending it was somehow an honest mistake. Not content with massaging last year's figures, the targets for this year are now being clearly reverse engineered. When the Taoiseach was asked by RTÉ in February about housing targets for this year, he dodged the question. He would not give an answer on housing targets for this year. In advance of the election, he was very clear on housing targets, as was Fine Gael. He said this year's target was 41,000 homes. Are we now to understand that this figure is not worth the paper it is written on? Does the Taoiseach think that people will forget the commitments he made just a few months ago? The reality is that the Taoiseach's Government has been found out and his housing plan is not working. Housing is about more than bricks and mortar; it is about independence and security. It is about starting a family and putting roots down in a community. There are now tens of thousands of people throughout Ireland who are missing out on this. They are people who feel disconnected from society and forgotten by government, and who feel that their lives are passing them by. There are solutions to the housing crisis. We have put forward many. For example, we proposed the introduction of affordable housing zoning. The Government voted this proposal down. We proposed early-stage finance to get affordable housing projects off the ground. The Government has not taken up this proposal. Can the Taoiseach level with us now and confirm the Government's housing target for this year is 41,000 homes? Does he accept that it is not going to meet that target, and what radical measures is he going to take to ensure we build the amount of affordable homes needed?
Sentiment score: 0.07
The Taoiseach set the target a few months ago.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The Taoiseach told the electorate a few months ago that the housing target for this year was 41,000 homes. Is he now saying that target is gone? Is he now saying that he has no housing target for 2025? What is the Government's housing target for 2025? The Taoiseach was explicitly clear a few months ago with the electorate that it was 41,000 homes. Is that still his target or has he ditched it? Why is he refusing to answer questions about what the Government's housing target is for 2025? Second, there is that question the Taoiseach has now been asked three times but he has not answered. Did the Minister for Finance give the Taoiseach that information from the Department of Finance that the Government's housing completion projections of 40,000 homes were not going to happen? Did he give the Taoiseach that information before the election day? Is the Taoiseach going to answer that question? He has dodged it three times; this is his fourth time. Will he answer that question?
Sentiment score: -0.02
Answer the question.
Sentiment score: 0.00