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State accused of misleading housing stats

The Government has been accused of using “misleading” housing statistics to disguise slow progress on home building as figures show 5.5% fewer new homes were built in Galway last year than in 2023.

Opposition TDs hit out at Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael this week after Central Statistic Office (CSO) figures showed fewer homes were built across the country in 2024, compared to the previous year.

The report on completion rates showed that just over new homes were completed last year – almost 10,000 short of the 40,000 promised by the Government.

This represented an almost 7% decline on the number of new builds completed in 2023.

Galway West Sinn Féin TD, Mairéad Farrell, described the Government’s housing plan as “woefully insufficient” and said Galway was suffering a similar fate to the rest of the country.

“Throughout 2024, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Housing said that 40,000 new homes would be built. They repeated this claim despite the CSO quarterly figures showing new home completions plummeting.

“Galway is also following the national trend. Across the county, housing delivery fell by 5.5% from 1,316 homes in 2023 to 1,244 homes in 2024. This is exactly the opposite of what we need,” said Deputy Farrell.

Independent Ireland TD for Roscommon Galway, Michael Fitzmaurice, accused the Government of trying to “spin” the figures which showed they were coming up short on delivery in the midst of the ongoing housing crisis.

“Fianna Fáil has been touting the commencement of 60,000 homes, but the reality is that 2024 saw only 30,330 new homes completed.

“This Government seems more interested in creating headlines than addressing the needs of citizens struggling to find a home. The figures show we are not on track to meet even the most basic housing demands,” said Deputy Fitzmaurice.

Deputy Farrell said the Government’s housing targets were already too low and called for a “radical reset of housing policy”.

“Their public and private housing targets for last year were too low. The Government has not only missed their social and affordable housing targets, but also their overall target.

“Given the commitments from Government parties to continue their disastrous housing policies over the next five years, we can expect the housing crisis to continue to deepen,” said the Sinn Féin deputy.

Describing what he called ‘dressing failure up as success’, Deputy Fitzmaurice said the current situation in housing was “a disgrace”.

“It’s not just about starting projects; it’s about finishing them and ensuring homes are available for people to live in. Inflating commencement figures while completions lag behind does nothing to solve the crisis,” he said.

Pictured: TD for Roscommon Galway, Michael Fitzmaurice

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