Greens Deplore 80% Drop in Housing Commencements
The Green Party described as "sickening" CSO statistics that show housing commencements are down 80% on the year to date.
Between January and July 2025, construction started on just 7,384 homes, down from 36,320 homes over the same period in 2024, according to figures recorded by the CSO.
Green Party spokesperson for Housing, Cllr Oliver Moran, said:
"This is a government that promised to be the 'housing government'. Micheál Martin and Simon Harris promised to build 300,000 homes by 2030, creating 80,000 construction jobs. The numbers show that housing activity has plummeted since the new government came into office.
"James Browne shafted renters and accidental landlords when he defunded the tenant-in-situ scheme. He made it almost unworkable for councils to access the funding that is there. The only numbers barely holding up are those for one-off houses. Those are down 'only' 50%. What that tells you is that when it comes to housing, as far as this government is concerned, you're on your own.
"We urgently need to reduce Department of Housing bottlenecks to give local councils the green light to build social, affordable housing, and cost rental housing. We need the Minister to intervene with ESB Networks and Uisce Éireann to speed up connections to new homes. It's clear the government can’t control the private sector, but its failure to move on shovel-ready public housing projects is unconscionable."
