Government ducks responsibility as homes hit €500,000
Government ducks responsibility as homes hit €500,000 - The Labour Party
- We need delivery, targets, accountability now
Labour housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD today said the latest house price figures show the housing crisis continuing to move in the wrong direction, as new data confirm that house price inflation remained at seven per cent in 2025. Speaking in response to figures published by the Central Statistics Office, Deputy Sheehan said the Government must stop ducking responsibility for its housing failures and urgently reset housing policy to meet real demand.
Deputy Conor Sheehan said:
“In a shock to absolutely no one, house prices are climbing once again. While the headline rate eased from 8.7 per cent in 2024, inflation at seven per cent remains far ahead of average wage growth. For families and workers, that means the dream of owning a home keeps slipping further out of reach. In Dublin, the average house price now sits at around €500,000. That figure alone tells you everything you need to know about how badly this Government has failed.
“These figures confirm what people already feel every day. The housing crisis continues to move in the wrong direction because the Government refuses to take responsibility for the consequences of its own choices. Instead of confronting the scale of the problem, Ministers talk down the data and cling to an approach that has not worked.
“These new CSO figures should act as a wake up call. They highlight the growing gap between what the country needs and what the Government is delivering. Every quarter brings more upward pressure on prices. Every month brings new evidence of the damage caused by years of missed opportunities, most starkly reflected in the relentless publication of rising homelessness figures.
“Rather than learning from these failures, the Government has doubled down on an outlook that lacks ambition and a strategy that cannot meet demand. This approach treats housing as a market problem first and a social need second. The result is predictable. Prices rise, rents stay unaffordable, and more people get locked out of secure housing.
“Instead, we have now seen this Government remove private sector housing targets from its latest housing plan. That decision did not happen by accident. It happened because they have not got a hope of meeting those targets. They have never met their commitments under Housing for All, and now they have decided to remove a basic measure of accountability rather than face up to failure.
“What we see now is the cumulative effect of delay, denial and drift. Workers pay more to live closer to their jobs. Families put their lives on hold. Young people face the prospect of permanent insecurity. None of this is inevitable. It is the direct result of political choices and a refusal to act with urgency.
“What is needed now is a radical reset of housing policy. That means scaling up the Land Development Agency and transforming it into a State construction company, providing additional financing for SME builder developers through a State backed investment programme, and finally admitting the reality that Ireland faces a housing deficit of more than 250,000 homes.
“Government must stop ignoring the evidence and start delivering the homes people need. We need ambition, clear annual targets and real accountability built into housing policy from the start. Without that, prices will keep rising and more people will be locked out of a basic right.”