The announcement of Budget 2023 is imminent and now more than ever, housing is expected to feature as a major concern.
Opposition parties have written alternative budgets that they say will tackle record levels of homelessness and help families and renters stay afloat.
Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin set out his party's strategy on The Pat Kenny Show.
"Almost every major city in particular in the overdeveloped world has a housing crisis at the moment", he said.
Deputy Ó Broin points to countries such as Germany, Austria and Singapore where, in many cases, over 30% of the housing is non-market, social and affordable.
"Those types of systems tend generally to be less prone to the kind of peaks and troughs that ours are", he said.
When is comes to combating homelessness, Ó Broin believes Helsinki is the blueprint.
"The Finnish government took a decision they were going to end long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough."
"The speed with which the government manages to secure housing is phenomenal compared to here."
Ireland's past
While he is largely disillusioned with the current government's approach, Deputy Ó Broin said it's worthwhile looking back to times where Ireland did well.
Marino in North Inner-City Dublin is "some of the best quality housing in the city", according to him.
"So it's not just about other countries, it's also about other moments in our own past where we did things better."
A general view of construction work on an affordable housing scheme in Dublin. Picture by: PA Images/Alamy100k public homes
In its alternative budget, Sinn Féin put €6.5 billion into the construction of 100,000 public homes throughout the party's tenure in government.
But how will this big undertaking be funded?
"The current system - which we wouldn't change, we would just expand - only funds 30% of the construction costs", Ó Broin explained.
"The approved housing bodies then go and borrow money from the housing finance agency, European investment bank, or banks elsewhere."
According to him, bureaucracy is the real problem, and can often "add two years to a project between planning and construction".
Who will build the houses?
Under Sinn Féin, public homes would still be built by private building contractors, but Ó Broin is confident that the resources exist to ramp up production.
"There is a capacity in the private sector to build more residential homes if government get its act together and makes it easier for those building contractors to get into the public works contracts."
Some 4,000 of Sinn Féin's annual 20,000 home average will come from derelict buildings.
"They're structures that are already there. In many cases, they're quicker and cheaper to acquire, refurbish and get back on the market."
Listen back to the full conversation here.
Main image shows Eoin ó Broin on the plinth outside Leinster House. Picture by: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
