A recent construction sector report has suggested that objections by politicians are contributing to a shortfall in the housing supply. 

The Mitchell McDermott report concluded that Ireland is likely to produce less housing over the next two to three years than we did in 2023. 

Paul Mitchell of Mitchell McDermott told Newstalk Breakfast that political objections and an atmosphere that is not conducive to build to rent and other types of housing developments is contributing to the issue. 

“As soon as we’ve had something that’s started to work – co-living, build to rent, rental in general – we start getting things in place,” he said. 

“[Then] the opposition parties come in, start voicing the concerns and the Government side folds. 

“We have to have strong leadership and I think this is an opportunity for the incoming Minister to actually make a stand and push through, not to just fold when the pressure comes on.” 

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin told the show that his party was not against build to rent developments in principle, but that it was the standards of many of these builds that was the issue. 

“The issue was that Eoghan Murphy introduced a separate set of design standards for apartments," he said.

"Smaller, less natural light, less storage – that was a bad planning decision and thankfully it has been reversed.

“But also, I don’t think that’s the main import of the Mitchell McDermott report, which is a very significant report and one that I welcome. 

“What they’re telling us... is that the Government’s housing plan is not ensuring the adequate delivery of both public and private housing.” 

08/07/2022 The new development of social housing at O’Devaney Gardens in Dublin....Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Deputy Ó Broin rejected that Sinn Féin have objected to or voted against almost 12,000 development homes in Dublin since 2018. 

“If you actually read the planning submissions... what they’re actually saying is we’re not objecting to residential development on this site,” he said. 

“What we’re saying is if you’re putting homes there, we’d like a proper mix of one beds, two beds, three beds... They’re not objections, they’re proposals to make the developments better.” 

According to Deputy Ó Broin, the housing crisis will not be solved by building small apartments “that are going to cost two and a half to three thousand euros a month”. 

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Main image: Eoin Ó Broin (L) and rows of houses (R).