Stark Central Statistics Office figures which show house prices have increased by €200,000 in just ten years are the product of disastrous policy decisions, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.
Deputy Hearne said:
“How can anyone be expected to have a future living in this country when their hopes of owning a home are crushed year after year?
“It’s no surprise that young people are leaving our shores in their droves.
“The cost of buying a home shot up by €30,000 in just one year alone – this trend paints a dark picture of the dystopia the housing sector has become.
“The only constants in housing are the government missing its affordable housing targets and house prices, rents and homelessness exponentially increasing every year.
“We cannot allow skyrocketing property prices to continue locking tens of thousands of people out of homeownership.
“Runaway property prices are one of the reasons why the government must adopt a State savings scheme to fund the accelerated delivery of affordable homes.
“Under our proposal, the government would establish a Homes for Ireland Savings Account to leverage some ld the €160 billion in Irish bank accounts for investment in affordable homes – providing some alternative to the utterly unaffordable prices highlighted in the latest CSO figures.
“This is the 19th month in a row that the CSO has shown a rise in house prices – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have created a runaway train in house prices while their policies mean house completions are slowing down.
“When will the Housing Minister admit failure and begin to treat this situation as the emergency that it is?”
22nd May, 2025