The Government has been accused of planning to fail when it comes to housing targets.
It comes after figures prepared by the Housing Commission suggest Ireland could need as many as 62,000 new homes a year.
Private documents from the commission, first published by The Irish Times, suggest 42,000 to 62,000 new homes are needed a year out to 2050 to meet demand.
Ireland needs to build more houses, but is the problem even worse than we thought asks @SeanDefoe. pic.twitter.com/1TgzVZaD6P
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) January 26, 2023
This takes into account forecasts for increasing population and changes to the number of people per household.
The current target by the State out to 2030 is 33,000 new homes a year.
It has led to Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty describing the Housing for All targets as not nearly enough.
"It needs to be between 42,000 and 62,000 every single year," he said.
"Minister, the problem here is, and this is so serious for people... is your Government is planning to fail".
Terraced houses are seen after construction in Kinsale, Co Cork. Picture by: Ognyan Yosifov / Alamy Stock PhotoThat is something Green Party leader and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan denies.
"You're saying we're planning to fail: that's not true," Minister Ryan said.
"One of the biggest problems is people objecting to planning.
"One of the biggest problems is that actually you can't get projects delivered quickly," he added.
'Baseline targets'
It comes as new CSO figures show 29,815 homes were built last year - 21% ahead of target.
Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien says they want something similar this year.
"These are baseline targets," he said.
"So like what we've done in 2022, last year... I'll expect us to exceed that quite substantially," he added.
Ministers say it will take time to build capacity in the construction sector, but the new figures suggest even overachievement on current targets is not enough.
