The Government’s housing policies are “bearing fruit”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. 

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Martin described housing as “the single most urgent and important social issue facing our country” and defended his Government’s record.

“We have treated this issue as an emergency from day one, in terms of the legislation we have passed and the initiatives that have been outlined,” he said. 

“A lot of what we are doing is already bearing fruit. While many people urgently need housing, many others have got housing.” 

Mr Martin then listed a number of individuals who had recently moved into cost rental homes and said, “The Sinn Féin Party has voted against and opposed significant housing developments throughout Dublin”. 

A general view of construction work on an affordable housing scheme in Dublin. Picture by: PA Images/Alamy

The remarks came in the wake of a report by Daft.ie that revealed rents in Dublin are 120% higher than they were in 2011 and had increased by 14% in the space of a single year. 

It also noted there were only 345 properties to rent in Dublin listed on the site on 1st November - something it described as “by far the lowest on record for this time of year”. 

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman said the declaration of an emergency was only one strand of what needed to be done. 

Houses for sale in a housing development.

“We need a ban on rent increase,” Eoin Ó Broin said. 

“We need a dramatic increase in investment in housing first; we need, as others have said, a significant increase in money for councils to purchase properties with HAP or RAS tenants in situ. 

“But crucially, we need a dramatic increase in accelerated delivery in social and affordable homes.” 

A ‘Raise the Roof’ rally is due to be held in Dublin on Saturday demanding “affordable homes and rents that allow households a decent standard of living.”

Main image: Micheál Martin and Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien. Picture by: RollingNews.ie