The Government has been criticised for failing to mention that its target for social housing will not be met this year in a newly published report.
While the Housing for All update, published on Wednesday, says that the target for new build social homes is 9,000, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Thursday that the Government would deliver 8,000 social homes in 2022.
This is not mentioned in the 45-page report that was discussed at Cabinet on Wednesday.
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Minister McGrath said: “In relation to direct social housing building, the target is 9,000 [units].
“We don’t believe at this juncture that 9,000 will be met.
“[Housing] Minister [Darragh] O’Brien’s estimate, which he communicated to the Cabinet Housing Committee last week, was that it would be of the order of 8,000 for 2022.
“We are also seeing cost rental homes coming on stream, affordable purchase homes also.”
The report said: “The Government is focused on accelerating social housing supply and has a target to deliver 9,000 new build social homes this year.”
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin told The Irish Mirror that the Government needs to be “upfront and honest” about how many houses it will deliver in 2022.
He criticised the fact that there were very few figures in the report as he questioned if the Government was “too embarrassed” to include them.
“There is a desperate scramble from the [Housing] Minister putting pressure on local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies to come up with units in any which way they can by year's end to take the bad look of them,” he said.
“I suspect the Government is finally admitting that it is not going to hit its target this year.
“But I strongly suspect that the 8,000 figure is not new builds.
“The Government needs to be upfront and honest with people and tell us how many new build social homes have been delivered up to the end of q3.
“They know and they’re not telling us.”
Cian O’Calaghan, the Social Democrats housing spokesperson, said that the revised figure should have been included in the Housing for All update.
He explained: “It is shocking that the Government gives an update on its performance in housing and doesn't give concrete figures about how they’re performing on social housing.
“They should have been providing very clear information on what has been delivered. “Instead they are skirting around it and are not publishing clear information.”
Recent parliamentary questions show that 373 affordable houses and 475 cost rental homes have been delivered this year. The targets for the year are 4,100 and 1,580 respectively.
A spokesperson for Minister O’Brien said that “the Q2 Construction Status report shows 8,247 social homes are currently on site”.
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