Housing

Taoiseach pins €1bn housing underspend on local authorities ‘not performing’

Leo Varadkar has been accused of trying to ‘dress up failure as success’ in his explanation of the housing budget underspend

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar: “If we adopt the approach the opposition advocates and rely entirely on the state, entirely on local authorities, fewer houses will be built, not more”. Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has blamed the €1 billion underspend on housing on local authorities, saying that if the government solely relies on the state and local government to deliver affordable accommodation, fewer homes will be delivered.

Speaking at Leader’s Questions, Cian O’Callaghan, the Housing Spokesperson for the Social Democrats, pointed to the “significant” underspend of the housing budget - which worked out to a quarter of funds allocated - last year and the ”pathetic“ ...