Minister for Housing James Browne has no grasp on the gravity of the housing and homelessness crisis plaguing Ireland, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Housing yesterday admitted that he has no estimated timelines for homelessness in Ireland to plateau, never mind fall. At the end of April, a record 17,548 people were living in homeless emergency accommodation, 5,604 of whom were children.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking to Virgin Media last night, Minister James Browne was unable to provide even a \u00a0rough estimate for when homelessness may level out, saying that he \u2018doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s a timing thing.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI can assure the Minister that those families experiencing the plight of homelessness very much feel it\u2019s \u2018a timing thing\u2019 as they are forced to spend weeks, months and even years without a home to call their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are they doing in the Department of Housing? The Minister says that he wants to \u2018move away from targets\u2019 when it comes to housing and homelessness – this is a cop-out, a way to bury his Government\u2019s shortcomings. You can\u2019t fail to reach a goal you haven\u2019t set.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinister Browne claimed that only when the number of homes being delivered exceeds the number of people in need of a home will we see homelessness begin to level out. Under the Minister\u2019s watch, we have no hope of achieving this, as we learned this morning that the rate of new housing commencements has fallen to levels last recorded six years ago and below the 10-year average.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf all the vacuous statements made by successive Fianna F\u00e1il Housing Ministers over the years, each of whom contributed to creating this mess we\u2019re in, Minister Browne\u2019s claim that there is no longer a need for housing targets is their magnum opus of bluster.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery housing policy that Minister Browne has progressed has worsened the housing crisis, which we have watched develop from a disaster to an all-out social catastrophe under his watch and as a result of changes such as March 1st\u2019s rental laws, which caused eviction notices to rise to the greatest level since the famine.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly corporate landlords and vulture funds are benefiting from Government housing policies, not ordinary families, who have been kicked out of their properties in their droves as a result.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Government is to stem the rise in homelessness, it must listen to viable solutions from the other side of the House. It must start by immediately introducing a three-year ban on no-fault evictions for all tenancies, and a blanket ban on rent increases, before housing becomes even less attainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 23rd, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Minister for Housing James Browne has no grasp on the gravity of the housing and homelessness crisis plaguing Ireland, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: \u201cThe Minister for Housing yesterday admitted that he has no estimated timelines for homelessness in Ireland to plateau, never mind fall. At the end of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[663,10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homelessness","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n