Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has accused the Government of talking “a load of bull” in relation to its target of 40,000 housing completions for 2024.
She claimed Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris “knowingly deceived people” about the figures when they knew they were “pure fiction”.
Mr Martin insisted however that there was “no attempt to deceive” and he was “extremely disappointed” that the number of homes completed was less than the official 33,000 target.
It was a much calmer Dáil on Wednesday when it resumed two weeks after chaotic scenes over speaking rights and the delayed election of the Taoiseach. Focus turned to housing and Storm Éowyn after the resolution, for now, about speaking rights for Independent TDs supporting the Government.
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Raising the issue of housing on leaders’ questions Ms McDonald said the two Coalition leaders had repeatedly claimed during the election campaign that close to 40,000 homes would be built in 2024.
She said the CSO and Central Bank data had shown that number was “fictitious”.
The Government parties “couldn’t face the electorate” with the truth that not only were the figures stagnant but they were “in fact going backwards” and she called for him to correct the record.
She said “you deliberately used a figure when you had to have known it would not be delivered”, adding that “you openly and knowingly deceived the public” during the general election campaign.
But insisting that there was no attempt to deceive the public Mr Martin said that both Cairn Homes and Deutsche Bank predicted 40,000 homes would be built.
It was “very, very disappointing” that they had not reached the target for completions. “We got the figure wrong and I regret that.”
He said there was a “genuine belief that we were heading for the high thirties”.
Ms McDonald said it was the Government’s first admission that the target set for 2024 was not met and that the figures were “pure fiction”.
Mr Martin told Ms McDonald that “the bottom line is that your programme for housing” failed to convince the electorate.
He said that for two – 2022 and 2023 – of the last three years they had exceeded and “excelled” with their targets and he claimed there was a “genuine belief” that they would hit the “high thirties”.
Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan hit out at the Taoiseach’s comments and asked why did the Government “completely and utterly disregard the hard data” from the CSO, which disputed Government claims.
Mr O’Callaghan asked “is it only in an election year that you don’t listen to the CSO” as he called on Mr Martin to explain why he did not believe the CSO and Central Bank data. “The Government spin on this was relentless,” he added.
The Taoiseach said that housing was the number one issue and there was no attempt to deceive people. He hit out at the Social Democrats, accusing the party of opposing legislation that would have brought additional homes on stream.
And he claimed the party was “extremely poor in terms of what you brought forward” on housing during the government formation talks. He told Mr O’Callaghan “I remember it well you looking at the clock, to get a soundbite on the Six O’Clock News.”
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