Ciarán Mullooly: Inflation Threatens Housing Recovery
MEP Ciarán Mullooly challenged the European Commission on the immediate impact of rising inflation and fuel costs on housing and construction. He welcomed mid-term review reallocations but warned that inflation and energy prices now risk slowing construction and hurting workers.
Ciarán Mullooly notes that 137 programmes were amended in the mid-term review and that 47 million from the fund was redirected towards housing in his constituency. He welcomes that redirection as a necessary response to the scale and urgency of the housing shortage.
Mullooly highlighted estimates that Europe needs 18 million housing workers but currently has 13 million. He warned that inflation, and rising fuel and energy costs, are reducing the construction workforce rather than increasing it, with damaging effects for delivery of new homes.
The MEP described peaceful protests by builders, plumbers and electricians in his constituency who face rising costs for petrol, diesel and gas. Mullooly asked the Commissioner, Executive Vice-President and the Commission what immediate measures they will propose now to protect the construction sector from further slowdown.
He recorded the Commission's reply that member states must factor inflation into national tenders and that a new energy proposal will be presented ahead of an extraordinary council in Cyprus. Mullooly pressed for clarity on resilience funds or special support to prevent backsliding in construction.
Mid-term review and funding
Ciarán Mullooly notes that 137 programmes were amended in the mid-term review and that 47 million from the fund was redirected towards housing in his constituency. He welcomes that redirection as a necessary response to the scale and urgency of the housing shortage.
Workforce and sector pressure
Mullooly highlighted estimates that Europe needs 18 million housing workers but currently has 13 million. He warned that inflation, and rising fuel and energy costs, are reducing the construction workforce rather than increasing it, with damaging effects for delivery of new homes.
Local protests and immediate asks
The MEP described peaceful protests by builders, plumbers and electricians in his constituency who face rising costs for petrol, diesel and gas. Mullooly asked the Commissioner, Executive Vice-President and the Commission what immediate measures they will propose now to protect the construction sector from further slowdown.
Commission response and next steps
He recorded the Commission's reply that member states must factor inflation into national tenders and that a new energy proposal will be presented ahead of an extraordinary council in Cyprus. Mullooly pressed for clarity on resilience funds or special support to prevent backsliding in construction.
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Transcript
Firstly, let me break my contribution into two parts. The good news, you did what you said you would do. 137 programmes amended in the mid-term review. And in my constituency, I'm glad to say, the facts are good. There was a total of 61 million flexible within the fund. 47 million was redirected towards housing. This is exactly what we called for and I welcome that. I think it reflects the scale and the urgency of the housing situation on the ground. The problem for you, Commissioner and Executive Vice-President, is now much broader. We have changed. I quote the European Central Bank, which tells us that euro area inflation has now increased 2.5% in March 2026. The world is changing since you started the mid-term review. And there are implications for housing, Commissioner. Huge implications for housing. We discussed in our committee many, many times as Vice-Chair, I highlighted the fact it's estimated we need 18 million housing workers in Europe to deal with the construction problem, the housing shortage. We have 13 million. But regrettably, Commissioner, instead of going up, the number of workers is going down because of inflation and fuel costs in particular. In my constituency today, we have people protesting peacefully on the side of the road with regard to the cost of doing business, petrol and diesel largely and gas to some extent as well. These are builders, plumbers, electricians, people who work and must drive for their work. They're not dissidents. They're not far right. These are workers, honest to God workers, but they cannot do it because of the margin. So my question to you, Commissioner, Executive Vice-President and indeed the President of Underline, what measures can you bring forward now to deal with the effect of inflation on the construction sector? How can you stop another slowdown in construction in the coming months? Are you going to look at measures such as resilience funds, special support funds? And how can you ensure that we don't go backwards in construction instead of forwards? Thank you. First point, the cost of inflation, I think that is a problem that we can face with the member states, but I can imagine that in the proposal of the national government, we have also included the cost of the inflation, because if the member states will launch a tender to realize some apartments or housing, I think that we have to imagine also the cost of inflation in this case, also for the other situation that we have. We are working, as you know, yesterday we had an important call of commissioners about the situation that we have. Next week we will present a new proposal for the energy to send this proposal for the next council. As you know, we have an extraordinary council in Cyprus next week, and we will see, because it is important also to remember that the decision is with the European Commission that proposed, and then the council that will approve it. We will see also the process about this in the parliament also.