The Government has been accused of wasting eight years of prosperity by Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, who said they are falling short of social and affordable housing targets which are already "far too low".
It comes after Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien yesterday rejected accusations that the Government is failing in its delivery of social and affordable housing.
In the first three months of this year 158 new social homes were built. The 2024 target for new social housing is 9,300.
Mr O'Brien promised that both the social and affordable targets would be met this year.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Bacik acknowledged that delivery tends to pick up pace in the latter half of the year, but she said at present it was very difficult to see how the Government was going to deliver 9,300 social homes this year.
The Government has been too reliant on the private sector, she said, and there needs to be a ramping up of State investment to ensure greater delivery.
She said she welcomed any progress towards meeting the housing needs of people, but added that the Government lack urgency and ambition.
So many younger people in their 20s and 30s are being priced out of housing, whether buying or renting, Ms Bacik said.
"That's simply unacceptable in a country running budget surpluses and is at effectively full employment."
She called for the need to have a State-run construction company that is non-profit to drive down the cost of homes and ensures greater delivery.
Ms Bacik added that Labour supported the Land Development Agency, but want to see vastly increased resourcing and capacity through the intervention of public funding, and that is what is missing in the Government’s position at present.
"They are looking at private sector incentives, and that simply hasn’t worked."
She said that it was late in the day to increase housing targets and the resourcing of the LDA, as it should have been done at the start of the Government’s term.
"We’ve seen eight wasted years of prosperity," Ms Bacik added.
