Fianna Fáil “made a difference” when it took over the housing portfolio, the Taoiseach has said.
Micheál Martin said his party had historically made “very significant achievements” in housing.
Fianna Fáil assumed the housing portfolio in 2020 when Darragh O’Brien was made the minister in the department, as the party entered into coalition with Fine Gael and the Green Party.
James Browne took over the department last year, following an election and the formation of a coalition where the Greens were replaced by several independents.
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Prior to O’Brien’s term, the portfolio had been held by Fine Gael since 2011 – apart from two years under Labour.
Speaking on Virgin Media’s Monday with Gavan Reilly, Martin said there was an attitude in his party to “get things done”.
Asked to explain the point of Fianna Fáil as it approached its 100th anniversary in 2026, he said it was pro-European, pro-enterprise and believed in social progress.
Asked whether he believed Fine Gael was in favour of Europe, enterprise and social progress, he said: “There’s no problem with having two parties of the centre, I would argue maybe Fine Gael might be more centre right and we were more centre left.”
Pressed to explain the differences between the two parties, he said: “I think if you look at over the last number of years, for example, in terms of budgetary approaches – if you take housing, for example, I actually think we’ve made a difference on housing since we came back in.”
He added: “I think we did make a difference as a party, and I think historically, we’ve had very significant achievements.”
“There is an attitude within Fianna Fáil that when you get into government, you get things done.”
The number of people accessing emergency accommodation has increased since Fianna Fáil took over the housing portfolio during a lull in the Covid-19 pandemic, which then saw a return to a pre-existing years-long upwards trend.
The figure was at 10,148 months before coronavirus restrictions came into effect and is at 17,517 now.
The Government has also officially abandoned annual housing completion targets for this term, instead setting a term-long goal of 300,000 homes out to 2030 – but has been off track based on previously published targets.
Opposition parties also criticised the Fianna Fáil-led department in the previous coalition, stating its targets had been too low and it had underdelivered affordable and social housing.
Martin also said the party continues to make “very significant new departures” in terms of Northern Ireland, as he pointed to Fianna Fáil’s history with the Belfast Agreement and the current Shared Island Unit within the Department of An Taoiseach.
Elsewhere in the interview, Martin said it “makes sense” to keep funding in reserve for the budget, as he defended not deploying more of the surplus in response to the cost-of-living crisis.
He said – apart from billions of euro set aside into strategic investment funds – the Government could potentially run a surplus of around €2.5 billion.
“We’ll need that in terms of increases, in terms of potentially more capital requirements – in terms of schools, for example, and other areas.”
Martin also cautioned: “We’ve got to make sure that we have reserves to deal with any ... deterioration in terms of oil supply but consequential increase in price – that is a big concern for me.”
He said: “I think it does make sense that we would keep some funding in reserve for the Budget.”
The Taoiseach said the Government had already intervened to the tune of €750 million in response to the fuel crisis this year. – Press Association
