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THE GOVERNMENT PUBLISHED its long-awaited housing plan today, which does away with annual targets and instead aims to deliver a minimum of 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030.
Decked out in hard hats, steel-toe boots and “Government of Ireland” high-vis vests, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister for Housing and Junior Ministers for Housing gathered at a new housing construction site in Dublin 8 this morning to launch the plan.
In a tent set up for the press conference, jazz music played through the speakers while journalists waited for the government ministers to finish their walk-through of the site.
Opening the press conference, Taoiseach Micheál Martin promised “boldness, ambition and determined action” in delivering this five-year roadmap for housing.
Both he and Minister for Housing James Browne denied that the removal of annual targets was a way of removing metrics for accountability.
“You will see the annual output every year…That will give you a fair indication of progress,” the Taoiseach said.
Asked how many of the over 5,000 children who are currently homeless will be lifted out of homelessness in the next year as a result of this plan, the Housing Minister could not give an answer.
He said he did not want to focus on a number or target because “that in itself becomes a driver”.
“What I want is to get all of those families out of homelessness as quickly as possibly,” he said.
Asked why there is no benchmarks for new homes, the Minister for Housing said: “Because the focus is completely now on activation”.
The plan (titled Delivering Homes, Building Communities) plans to create 72,000 social homes and work under a new prevention framework to “focus on ending homelessness”. It will also provide “starter home” support.
Asked today what exactly is meant by the term “starter homes”, the Minister for Housing, Taoiseach and Tánaiste all pointed to houses delivered as part of government schemes such as the First Home Scheme and Help to Buy.
They did not provide a timeline for how long the government would estimate a person/family would spend in a “starter home” or set out a range for the price or the size of “starter homes”.
The phrase “starter homes” used a lot in this new housing plan, asked what exactly this means in terms of size/price/how long does the government envision a person should be in a “starter home” for example - got no real answer. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/OZpB1nkIPF
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) November 13, 2025
The Government said the delivery of new homes will be possible through cooperation between the private and public sectors.
It failed to meet its target of 40,000 new homes last year, and notably, annual targets are not a focus of today’s plan.
Speaking to reporters at the launch, Minister for Housing James Browne said: “We want to get away from yearly targets”.
He said the plan instead focuses on activating supply.
At the launch of the long awaited housing plan this morning.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) November 13, 2025
“Why is there no annual targets in this plan?”
“Because we are focused on activation,” Minister for Housing James Browne says.
“We want to get away from yearly targets,” he adds. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/hTCioqJvzk
To build the number of homes projected under the plan, an estimated €20 billion in development finance will be required each year.
To reach this level of delivery, the State is committing “significant funds” towards the provision of social and affordable homes.
It has committed in excess of €9 billion in funding for housing through the Exchequer, the Land Development Agency (LDA) and the Housing Finance Agency in 2026.
The remaining required funding is to come from investment by the private sector.
The Government also promises to reduce “planning, legal and regulatory delays and uncertainties” as well as “radically increase” investment in public infrastructure.
It also pledges to provide more zoned and serviced land to enable to private sector to deliver homes at a greater scale.
The Government said it has provided “unprecedented” resources through the National Development Plan to enable the largest ever capital investment in the history of the State, a total of €275.4 billion.
On infrastructure, it is investing over €24 billion in key transport programmes, €12.2 billion for the water sector and over €28 billion for housing and related infrastructure.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “The scaling up of delivery of homes is an absolute priority for this Government. We have made progress but we must do much more.”
“Today’s plan sets out how we will build the homes people and communities across the country need between now and the end of 2030.”
“The State is making an unprecedented investment – €50 billion between exchequer and non exchequer funding to Housing and Water infrastructure. We are also crucially creating the conditions to enable a step up in private sector delivery.”
“We need to break down the barriers that are holding back construction; support people directly in securing a home of their own; support renters, and tackle homelessness.”
With additional reporting from Andrew Walsh and PA
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