Micheál Martin was speaking on a visit to University College Cork this afternoon after President Michael D Higgins described Ireland’s housing policy as a ‘great failure’.
The president said it was not ‘a crisis… but a disaster’ during a speech in Co Kildare where he was opening a centre for young people who are exiting homelessness.
Earlier today, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he thought some of what the president had said was “quiet true” and described the housing crisis as a ‘disaster for some people’.
Speaking to RedFM News at UCC today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin says the housing crisis remains the government's top priority:
"As I said now, I'm not going into a debate with the President. If you want to ask me questions about housing, I take those. And as I said, when I became Taoiseach, the number one issue I said that we have to face is housing and we've got a clear plan with clear government resources, €4 billion per annum over the next five years alone, which is very substantial. The issue now is delivery and I'm glad to see we're getting a lot of social housing projects underway and a lot have been opened this year. And we're working very well with the approve social bodies and local authorities to get more and more housing."
