Michael Moynihan: Housing referendum would distract from delivery

00:05 First of all, I'd like to thank Deputy Herne and indeed all the deputies who spoke so genuinely 00:13 and eloquently about the housing and the challenges that are facing us. 00:19 And I want to reaffirm the government's commitment to tackling the housing crisis. 00:22 We know these challenges are having a real impact on people's lives and we remain focused 00:28 on increasing delivery. 00:30 Enshrining a right to housing in the Constitution is not necessary to solve this crisis. 00:36 To hold a referendum on this now would simply create a distraction from the real work of 00:42 scaling up the supply into new housing. 00:44 It's simply unrealistic to suggest that we can deliver a home for everybody but we have 00:49 to be and we cannot create unrealistic expectations. 00:59 The government has shown a clear commitment to tackling the housing crisis in a very real 01:03 and practical way through introducing measures that support the increased delivery of housing. 01:09 In this regard, supply has increased significantly over recent years. 01:15 In the five years to the end of June of 2026, more than 156,000 new homes have been delivered. 01:23 This compares to 87,819 in the previous five-year period and just 29,855 in the five years before 01:34 that. 01:34 But there's still a huge amount of work to do. 01:38 Increasing the supply of new homes is critical to alleviating the pressures in the housing 01:43 market, helping to moderate price growth and ease affordability challenges across the country. 01:51 Ensuring everybody has a range of housing options available to them, whether they want 01:55 to buy a house, rent a house or are in need of social housing. 02:01 Delivering homes, building communities seeks to significantly accelerate delivery of new 02:14 housing activity, including regulatory reform, tax incentives and the largest ever capital 02:21 investment in the history of the state, with £275 billion in investment in infrastructure 02:27 over the last 10 years through the delivery of the National Development Plan. 02:32 The unprecedented level of investment the government has committed to bringing about 02:37 a very significant scale-up in the delivery of housing over the coming years, addressing 02:42 the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities, make buying and renting homes more affordable 02:48 and support the development of villages, towns and cities across the country. 02:53 Introducing a right to housing in the Constitution will not result in the delivery of a single 02:58 additional house, but unwanted and unintended consequences of it could actually delay the 03:04 delivery of housing by creating uncertainty in the market and redirecting state resources 03:08 to addressing lengthy legal challenges for years to come, which is why the government 03:14 will not be supporting the Bill. 03:16 Government's immediate focus and the priority continues to be on the delivery of homes as 03:23 set out in the Programme for Government and the delivering of homes and building communities. 03:28 I can assure you that I've taken the comments that have been raised across the debate tonight, 03:34 but it is of huge importance to the government to deliver homes and we are walking and investing 03:39 a huge amount of time and effort across government to do so. 03:43 Go raibh maith agat.