The State must return to levels of social and affordable house-building last seen during Fianna Fáil’s last period in office a decade ago, the party’s spokesman Barry Cowen has said. In a number of speeches in recent weeks Mr Cowen has sought to defend his party’s record on construction, and recast Fianna Fáil as the party that can spur large-scale construction of homes. Mr Cowen’s speeches mark a tentative embrace by Fianna Fáil of its record as it attempts to signal to voters that it is better placed than Fine Gael to solve the housing crisis. However, it will likely lead Fine Gael to instead say that the last Fianna Fáil administrations were responsible for overheating the property market and the subsequent economic crash. From 2011 to 2016, Fine Gael built just 4,000 new social houses, which is fewer than what Fianna Fáil built in almost every single year from 1997 to 2009.

Source: The Irish Times March 20, 2018 00:00 UTC