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HOUSING MINISTER JAMES Browne will not “get into predictions” or estimates on the total number of social housing units built last year.
Government said it would build 9,300 social homes in 2024 but confidence in that figure has weakened since it was revealed that the State missed its overall housing delivery target last year.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Browne was repeatedly asked whether government expects that the social housing target had been met. He said he would prefer to focus the real figure, which is yet to be published, instead of guessing the outcome.
“Look, I’m a new minister for housing,” Browne, who has been in the role three months, said. “My view is I don’t get into predictions, I don’t get into estimates.
“What matters that are real numbers. And my aim is to deliver, maximise the delivery of homes in this country.”
He said that the completed 2024 social home figures will be published very soon, and that the delivery of that type of housing tends to ramp up toward the final quarter of each year.
Challenged that the government made a similar claim in respect of the overall housing figures last year, which plummeted in the final quarter of 2024, Browne said he could not “predict” if the 9,300 target would be reached.
“I have to just wait and see what those numbers are. But it’s always the case, year-on-year, that the very top heavy number of deliveries are in the last quarter,” he said.
The Fianna Fáil Wexford TD defended the coalition’s work on housing so far, claiming that the previous government delivered the highest number of social housing units in “decades”.
Browne cited the implementation of the Planning and Development Act, approved last year, which he said will improve waiting times around planning approval and make it easier to get construction started quickly.
Browne made the comments after he announced this morning how the first segment of a €2.2bn fund for social and affordable housing, approved in February, will be allocated.
A total of €111m will be spent on 1,300 new-builds while €325m will be used for acquisitions.
The minister confirmed during the interview this morning that the announcement includes details on how the social and affordable housing funding was being allocated.
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the funding cut was evident in the revised estimates for 2025, in which he said the allocation for 2024 is €104m less than last year.
Browne disagreed with the criticism from Sinn Féin, pointing to the overall funding for social and affordable housing this year, which he claimed has increased from €3.6bn to €3.8bn. That money will be allocated throughout different periods of 2025.
The social housing build target for 2025 is 12,000, but there are concerns that delivery on those numbers could dip. The minister said that supply needs to be scaled up in order to meet the target.
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