THE GOVERNMENT WILL take steps to rezone land for housing if council bosses fail to do so, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. 

On the final day of the Fianna Fáil think-in in Douglas in Cork, the Taoiseach said he was “taken aback” that a number of local authorities are refusing to rezone land for housing in the middle of a housing crisis. 

Singling out Dublin City Council, Martin said:

“I think the Dublin City Council has articulated it doesn’t need to rezone anymore. We’re hearing from some CEOs who don’t see the need for rezoning, where we just can’t comprehend this.” 

Yesterday, the Taoiseach lashed out at Wicklow County Council for de-zoning land, which was zoned for housing. 

The Taoiseach told reporters that councils have been given clear instructions to rezone by Housing Minister James Browne. If council bosses refuse to act, the government will sideline the chief executives and use legislation to zone land. 

“We can take direct action ourselves. If local authorities don’t rezone, we will use legislation to do the rezoning ourselves,” he said.

When asked how long this will take, the Taoiseach outlined that new legislation may not be required as there are powers the government has within existing legislation.

Martin told reporters that he will also be meeting with CEOs of county councils, stating that those meetings are already being arranged. 

There is an urgency required, said the Taoiseach who went on to state that the housing need is enormous and the cost of housing is excessive.

“It’s overpriced in some cases because of supply issues. And if we’re to have a sustainable future into housing, we simply have to rezone more land. And this is not just tomorrow. It’s for the years to come. So there will be very strong engagement and robust engagement between government and local authorities,” he said.

Martin said local councils have been allocated a lot of resources to deliver more housing. 

While some local authorities are strong and proactive on housing, others are not, he said. 

To highlight who is performing as they should, the housing minister will be publishing league tables of all local council in terms of their output. 

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Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin criticised the Taoiseach’s comments on councils stating that it is a masterclass in shifting blame for government failures on housing. 

However, when asked to respond, Martin Ó Broin’s approach is always to “stick everything on the government”. 

“I’m interested in solving the housing problem,” he said. 

Ó Broin called Martin’s comments about councils “bizarre”, stating that government sets the housing delivery targets for both the public and private sector.

The government, through the Planning Regulator and the housing minister, have extensive powers to amend city and county development plans where they believe they do not align with the National Planning Framework, said the Sinn Féin housing spokesperson. 

He added that the government has consistently underestimated both population growth and in turn housing targets, which he said have been set too low for councils.