The Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has admitted he doesn't see house prices dropping in the near future.
Mr O'Brien, who is set to debate housing with Sinn Féin spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin on Thursday on Prime Time, was speaking to Claire Byrne on RTE Radio One when he made the comments about the issue.
Mr O'Brien also defended comments he made in 2018 where he accused then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of 'weasel words' when saying there was no silver bullet to fix the housing crisis.
He told Claire: "There's a reality right now that we're coming out of a pandemic. We've never had two construction shutdowns that we've had. Everyone knows you don't fix housing overnight.
"What I've said in the past was one small comment in a number of years of debating. Most people realise that we need a lot of things to sort the housing crisis. We've published the Housing for All plan, where we plan to deliver 33,000 homes a year on average.
"Housing for All will have a very significant effect in stabilising our housing sector."
When questioned as to what the future will look like and whether house prices will drop, Mr O'Brien replied:
"In the short term no.
"Is it (the housing crisis) going to be fixed in 2022? No. Is the situation going to be better by the end of the year? Yes, I believe so."
"I would say most people who are out there, they want to be able to own their own home. So, that's something we support.
"We have a lot of people out there renting who don't want to be renting. Their rents are too high and they want stability"
We then heard comments from one listener, who explained her two children were aged 31 and 29 and still living at home, and another who was 40 years of age and renting with childcare costs in the "screwed middle"
Mr O'Brien responded: "I understand why people look at things in despair. It's really tough now. The average age of homeowners is now 36. We haven't had a focus on affordable housing in the last ten years.
"Our housing plan will make a difference in the short and medium term. We'll see incremental improvements. There is no silver bullet, but we have a plan in place. It is the number one issue for the Government."
