Mullooly on leaked Housing Commission Report

"We can't afford NOT to invest in housing"

In light of the recent leaked bombshell report from the Government-appointed Housing Commission, Ciaran Mullooly, Independent Ireland MEP candidate for Midlands-North-West, condemns the government's failure to address Ireland’s housing crisis and pledges to seek solutions to the systemic issues facing the country, in Europe’s institutions, if elected.

Policy failures 
The Housing Commission’s report lays bare the chronic issues plaguing Ireland’s housing sector. The Commission’s findings include a call for a radical “strategic reset” of housing policy, citing ineffective decision-making and reactive policies and a severe housing deficit, estimated between 212,500 and 256,000 homes as of the 2022 Census, contributing to larger household sizes, lack of affordable housing, and increasing homelessness. 

  The report also noted that Wicklow, Dublin, and Kerry were identified as the least affordable counties, with Dublin suffering from contradictions between national planning and foreign direct investment patterns. A significant need to increase social housing to 20% of the national stock, with stable public and private funding, was also a key finding of the leaked report. 

Mullooly’s commitment
Ciaran Mullooly emphasises that the Housing Commission’s report underscores yet another failure of government policy. He asserts that immediate and decisive action is necessary to mitigate the crisis: "The Housing Commission's report is a damning indictment of the government's persistent failure to address Ireland’s housing crisis. 

  “The severity of the housing deficit, coupled with one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing in Europe yielding some of the poorest outcomes, is unacceptable. 

  “If elected to the European Parliament, I will leave no stone unturned to secure strategic funding to front-load the costs associated with supplying more social and affordable housing now, not in the distant future.

Generation rent 
Mullooly, a bulwark of rural regeneration said: “While the report places great emphasis on the need to increase social housing stock, we need to also be conscious of the fact that ‘generation rent’ is a generation of middle-income earners trapped between qualifying for social housing and being able to afford to buy a house. 

  “Therefore, I will be searching high-up and low-down in Europe for all and any funding that may be available to enable the state to frontload investment in housing now, not later. 

  “My party’s ‘Housing and Infrastructure plan’ which is being developed as part of our general election manifesto, clearly identifies that this is a problem which is almost completely of the current Government’s making. It is complex but there are common sense solutions that if applied in practice could have a truly meaningful impact on the lives of people. 

  The former RTÉ Midlands Correspondent explained that the problems facing the housing sector are multi-faceted and simply: “throwing more money at the issue, indiscriminately, will not even make a dent in it.

  A veteran journalist and community worker, Mullooly understands that tackling the housing crisis requires “radical measures and systemic reforms” and continued: “Population increases, ridiculously high building standards, and unbridled taxation are all within the gift of our national Government to address. But they simply have not.

Accessing EU funding
Mullooly plans to leverage his position in the European Parliament if elected, to access critical EU funding to address the systemic issues in Ireland’s housing sector. According to Mr Mullooly, specific funds that could be pursued include: “The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), this fund supports social inclusion and helps address housing affordability issues across the EU. I don’t think Ireland has taken full advantage of this funding for this purpose.”


  “The Affordable Housing Initiative under the Single Market Programme (SMP-COSME), this initiative aims to support the construction and renovation of affordable housing using innovative approaches and multi-stakeholder partnerships. Again, we need to be certain Ireland is leveraging all these funding streams, not tomorrow but - TODAY!”

  “The European Investment Bank (EIB) has already financed social housing projects in Ireland and can be a critical partner in scaling up these efforts.”

  "I will advocate for Ireland to tap into these EU strategic funding mechanisms to address our housing supply crisis starting on day one in Brussels. 

  “By securing EU funds, we can mitigate the impact of inflation and construction costs, ensuring that building more homes becomes a priority now rather than being delayed indefinitely. 

  “The cost of inaction is too high, and with the right support from the EU, we can turn the tide on this crisis and provide the housing security that our citizens desperately need."​