ESRI report on housing borrowing slammed as ‘detached from reality’ by Finance officals

Research which suggested state could borrow up to €7 billion a year sparked scathing response

Kieran McQuinn, a research professor at the ESRI, recommended that the state had the capacity to “prudently” borrow up to €7 billion a year to provide extra funding to build thousands of additional social homes. Picture: RollingNews.ie

An ESRI report that said the state could prudently borrow billions for social housing was described as “not helpful” and branded as “detached from reality” by senior civil servants in the Department of Finance, the Business Post can reveal.

In June, a paper published by Kieran McQuinn, a research professor at the ESRI, recommended that the state had the capacity to “prudently” borrow up to €7 billion a year to provide extra funding to build ...