‘We have started to make strides forward’ on housing, Martin tells Fianna Fáil ardfheis

The Fianna Fáil leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin told delegates at his party’s ardfheis this evening that “for the first time in years, we have started to make strides forward” on housing.

Telling delegates that the Government “was not there yet” in achieving all its goals, Mr Martin defended the progress made by the Coalition and promised further action on housing, public services, climate change and Northern Ireland.

In his leader’s address at the Fianna Fáil ardfheis in Dublin this evening, Mr Martin told the audience that the Government’s “programme of ambitious and practical change ... is already starting to show progress, but will deliver much, much more in the months and years ahead.”

Mr Martin devoted a significant portion of his speech to housing, telling delegates that “helping people to afford to buy or rent a home is a defining challenge of our time.”

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“There is only one sustainable solution – build more houses to own and rent,” he said. “And to deliver this, we need action on every front. Action which is under way is making a real difference.”

“I deeply understand how people can look at the difficulties of being able to get a home and be dispirited,” Mr Martin told the event, his party’s 81st ardfheis.

“But things are changing. By every measure of home permissions, completions, home purchases, first-time buyers, and mortgage drawdowns, we are seeing positive movement. By the end of this year 100,000 homes will have been built since we took up this challenge.

“We have started a new era of providing social homes in all parts of the country, with up to 30,000 delivered to date. In addition, there are over 22,000 social homes either on-site or at design and tender stage.

“The facts show that every week 500 first-time buyers are buying a new home. We are not there yet,” Mr Martin continued, “but for the first time in years a real momentum is building.”

Mr Martin warned that “major difference between Government and Opposition” on housing was on home ownership.

“We believe that home ownership should be supported. That is why we have expanded and created the Help to Buy and First Homes schemes, and it is why we are helping thousands through dedicated schemes for affordable homes,” he said.

“However, the main opposition party” – Mr Martin did not mention Sinn Féin by name – “has opposed all of these affordable housing schemes and is consistently negative towards the concept of supporting home ownership. We could not disagree more. We will continue to support people who want to buy a home,” he said.

Mr Martin’s televised address was enthusiastically received by delegates at the one-day event, though there was little in the way of new policy announcements. The one exception was when he said that the Government would issue new guidelines on smartphone access in schools, a move flagged earlier in the day by Minister for Education Norma Foley.