Housing Minister James Browne has appeared to roll back on a party commitment to end homelessness by 2030.
Mr Browne’s predecessor and Fianna Fail colleague, Darragh O’Brien, set an ambition to eradicate homelessness through the Housing For All strategy.
However, speaking on Friday, the new minister said that he would not be making a similar pledge.
“The only promise I ever make is to do the very best I can.
“I don’t want anybody in homelessness, we want to ensure that we can get to that point but it’s really challenging.
“Supply is the only real solution to ending homelessness.”
He added: “The commitment is to get that homeless figure down as quickly as possible but there won’t be a specific timeline in relation to it.”
Pressed on whether there was no longer a pledge to end homelessness, Mr Browne said: “The commitment from me to end homelessness, that’s where we want to get to.
Left to right, Cormac O’Rourke, James Browne, Micheal Martin, Emma Blain and John Coleman at the sod-turning of Land Development Agency site in Clongriffin (Brian Lawless/PA)
“In terms of dates or anything like that, we are examining all of that and how we can get there.
“But projections and dates aren’t going to deliver a single apartment.”
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan described the minister’s comments as a “serious step back”.
“Deadlines may not deliver housing but not having a deadline to eliminate homelessness isn’t going to eradicate homelessness either.”
James Browne with Taoiseach Micheal Martin, right (Brian Lawless/PA)
He added: “Simply throwing up their hands and saying they don’t want to do this, they don’t see themselves as capable of doing this, is the wrong approach.”
Both politicians were speaking to reporters at the sod-turning for a Land Development Agency project to deliver 400 homes at Clongriffin in north Dublin.
The event came before the publication of the latest emergency accommodation figures, which Mr Browne said “haven’t been going the direction we want for some time”.
The figures will show the number of people in emergency accommodation for the last week of January, immediately after he took office.
However, the numbers exclude those sleeping rough, refugees in direct provision centres, people in domestic violence shelters, and those sleeping in cars or on couches.
The figures for his first full month of office, February, will not be revealed until the end of March.
The minister said he would take personal “responsibility” for the emergency accommodation figures.
Pressed on whether he would accept that a further rise in March’s figures would be his fault, Mr Browne said: “It’s my responsibility, put it that way.”
Meanwhile, the minister said private investment and financing was necessary to reach housing targets.
However, Mr Browne said he was yet to meet with any institutional investors.
Asked if he had any concerns that housing delivery would be lower this year than in 2024, the minister said it is “very early to be getting into that kind of predictions”.
“But we know that real missing piece is the delivery of apartments, we have seen the collapse in the delivery of apartments, commencements and planning permissions for apartments.”