TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has declared that his government “will do everything we possibly can” to avoid scenes similar to those seen in Co Kildare yesterday, where first-time house buyers slept in their cars overnight.

More than a dozen people were hoping to buy one of 30 homes on offer this weekend in Leixlip.

They consist of two-bed, three-bed and four-bed homes in Harpur Lane, a housing estate first opened in 2022, with terraced properties having starting prices ranging from €460,000 to €530,000.

Cars that people had been sleeping in have since been cleared away and fences have been put up to block further cars from parking around the viewing area.

Speaking today to reporters in Cork today, Martin said that the housing crisis “remains the key social issue” facing the Government.

Asked about the specific scenes in Leixlip, Martin said: “We’re going to do everything possible to avoid that but there is huge pressure.”

The Fianna Fáil leader said he has taken part in a series of meetings in the last number of weeks to try and resolve infrastructure issues that may be holding up the building of housing at present.

There have been repeated complaints in numerous counties over recent years of difficulties at connecting new housing developments to the water network, often leading to delays for those new builds becoming available.

“Part of my discussion yesterday with Irish water was about the growth side, in terms of providing better capacity in towns across the country to enable housing to be built in towns at the moment where it’s not possible because of the absence of water infrastructure, or where the water infrastructure is at capacity.

Martin added that the Government has to “look afresh at the rental side” of the housing market, saying that the attempts to bring in private sector investment into housing are “not working properly at the moment”.

With reporting by Andrew Walsh and Niall O’Connor