Government must unblock housing before approving more data centres
Government must unblock housing before approving more data centres - The Labour Party
- Minister must publish a plan for water, wastewater and electricity connections as Central Bank cuts completion forecasts for 2026 and 2027
Labour housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD has called on the Government to urgently set out how it will remove the planning and infrastructure barriers delaying new homes, following a warning from the Central Bank that housing delivery now takes twice as long as it did a decade ago.
Deputy Sheehan said Government must prioritise water, wastewater and electricity connections for housing and explain how it intends to meet its targets after the bank revised down its completion forecasts for this year and next.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“It now takes an average of four years to deliver a home from the initial planning application to completion, compared with two years a decade ago. That is an extraordinary deterioration during a housing emergency and a damning indictment of this Government’s failure to plan.
“The Central Bank now expects 39,500 homes to be completed this year and 41,000 next year, with both forecasts revised down. It also warns that these projections depend on the timely delivery of essential infrastructure. This leaves Government’s housing targets looking more and more detached from reality. What is the point of announcing target after target when the State cannot provide the planning decisions, water connections, wastewater capacity and electricity infrastructure needed to get homes built?
“This is a key test for Government’s infrastructure task force. It must produce results rather than another report that gathers dust. The Minister for Housing must set out a time-bound plan for delivering utility connections to housing developments and identify who will take responsibility when deadlines slip.
“Government must also make a clear choice about its priorities. Homes cannot continue competing with data centres for scarce electricity and infrastructure capacity. Housing people must come before facilitating the unchecked expansion of data centres.
“The Central Bank has issued a clear warning that delays will continue to undermine housing supply unless the State acts. The Minister must prioritise homes over data centres and show exactly how Government intends to turn its housing targets into actual homes.”