Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central The Deputy looks at the world through one prism when it comes to housing; we look at it through another. In my vision for young people, housing is number one and it means a relentless focus on supply. The Social Democrats have opposed all supply measures in this House for the last number of years and they keep on criticising every single initiative that we have undertaken. If we do not get supply up, we will not moderate rents. All the rest is just populist waffle if we do not really focus on what matters. The Deputy talks about legacy. When the previous Government was formed in 2020, direct social housing builds were in the low thousands. Last year, in 2025, we built 9,000 social homes, the highest on record since the State was founded. While I can never be happy when it could higher, that is a reasonable legacy in terms of permanent provision of social housing. The good news is that up to 23,000 more are in different stages of design and development. That is one aspect. The others are affordable and cost rental. Yesterday I was at a sod-turning for 800 new units, not cabins but real units in Richmond. The Tánaiste was in Drogheda where about 600 new units will be built. The Minister, Deputy Browne, will be in Drogheda tomorrow for, I think, another 600. Those are sod-turnings for 2,000 houses and apartments this week alone. We built 36,000 houses last year, delivered in 2025. That is the highest since records began and up 20% on 2024. Some 170,000 houses have been built since 2020, with 50,000 apartments built. On planning momentum, 8,000 permissions were granted in quarter 4 of 2025, up 19%. Permission was granted for 20,000 houses in 2025, the highest since 2009. There have been 8,000 commencement notices in quarter 1 of 2026. These are facts. It is not enough; we want to get to 50,000 per annum. In terms of the exemptions, the Deputy said exemptions were a good idea if just for family members. I think that is what she said. If it is just for family members, are they no longer cabins? The Deputy used very derogatory language when she said they were for rent, but if the very same structures are built for family members what are they? They are not cabins anyway, because they have to be in alignment with the existing building record regulations. I think many people will welcome this. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-21/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-21