June 2025 saw only 1,356 housing commencement notices, the lowest since 2020. To date, only 6,325 commencements have occurred in 2025, compared to 34,581 in 2024. The Taoiseach emphasized that this decline was expected following a record year in 2024 due to waived development levies. He noted an increase in housing completions and highlighted numerous government measures aimed at future growth in housing. With thousands of houses in the pipeline, the government aims to unblock these projects and attract private investment in the construction sector.
The Taoiseach insisted commentators are not comparing like-with-like in terms of the housing commencement figures. "I don't think that is fair - you have to look at the context," he said.
The Taoiseach added that measures adopted by the Government have also yet to impact on the housing market. 'Also we have taken a significant number of measures that will lay (important) foundational steps for growth into the future both in terms of commencements and completions,' he said.
There are thousands and thousands of houses now in the pipeline. 'We do need to unblock some of those and that is why the national development plan is important in enabling the unblocking of some projects that are already about to happen or in the pipeline itself.'
Mr Martin insisted the Government anticipated a temporary fall-off in commencement numbers. 'When the development levy waiver ended we anticipated this fall off given the extraordinary numbers last year.'
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