It’s beyond belief that the Government is boasting about its housing achievements when new figures reveal it failed to provide a single affordable purchase home in our capital last year, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.
Deputy Hearne said:
“Today’s figures from the Department of Housing are caked in spin to obscure the Government’s housing delivery failures.
“In this latest attempt to cook the books, the Department has included grants and subsidies that go straight into the pocket of developers as an achievement when it comes to affordable housing provision.
“This conflation is attempting to conceal the pitiful rate of affordable housing delivery by the State: nationwide, only 935 direct-build properties were available through the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme last year.
“Not a single affordable home was provided in Dublin City, where the crisis is most acute. This is a complete indictment of a Government that is not functioning on any level.
“When the spin melts away from today’s figures, the reality could not be starker. Fewer than 1,000 affordable purchase homes were delivered last year. This does not scratch the surface of the housing emergency we are faced with.
“Until the Government accepts its housing policy is a disaster and adopts radical solutions to deliver homes, that people on average incomes can actually afford to buy, nothing will change.
“Those solutions must include a state construction company and a state saving scheme, to turbo charge the delivery of the affordable housing that people so desperately need.”
April 15th, 2026