Housing 'number one issue' for government, says Irish PM

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has insisted that housing is the "number one issue" for the Irish government.

It comes as he faced criticism over the use of housing data ahead of the general election last year.

Sinn Féin President and Leader of the Opposition Mary Lou McDonald accused Martin and Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris of deceiving the electorate that 40,000 new homes would be delivered last year.

In reply, the taoiseach said the government was "extremely disappointed" that the actual number homes delivered in 2024 was lower than the official target of 33,000, adding there was "no attempt to deceive".

Business resumed in the Dáil (the lower house of parliament) on Wednesday with housing policy, the government's response to Storm Éowyn and the Occupied Territories Bill being raised as the key issues.

On Wednesday, McDonald accused Martin and Harris of repeating "pure fiction" during the General Election campaign that 40,000 new homes would be delivered in 2024.

About 30,000 homes were completed last year.

Martin rejected the accusation that discussing 40,000 house completions during the election campaign was a "ploy" aimed at convincing voters that the country had "turned the corner on housing".

The acting leader of the Social Democrats Cian O'Callaghan accused Martin of "completely and utterly disregarding hard data" from the Central Statistics Office.

The Dáil had not sat for two weeks following a dispute over speaking rights for a group of Independent TDs (members of parliament).

On Tuesday, Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) Verona Murphy ruled that the bloc of independent politicians cannot form a technical group for the purposes of speaking rights.

The row resulted in chaotic scenes in the Dáil before a new government was elected last month.

Opposition TDs had disrupted the nomination of Micheál Martin as taoiseach.

The new government is led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael with the support of a number of independent TDs. The support of the independents could be critical to the survival of the government during its term of office.

The two main government parties had sided with the independent TDs in the speaking rights row.

During Wednesday's sitting, TDs discussed the government's response to Storm Éowyn.

Storm Éowyn brought record-breaking gusts in excess of 183km/h to the west coast of Ireland last month.

More than 750,000 customers were left without power in the Republic.

The figure has since been reduced to thousands, but the final phase of the repair and restoration operation is being hampered by remote locations in the countryside and a high number of one-off rural dwellings.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said people have been forced to hold wakes for dead relatives by candle light due to the ongoing fallout.

"It is unacceptable that 18,000 homes, farms and businesses are still without power and some won't have their electricity restored until the weekend," she said.

At the peak of Storm Éowyn, 768,000 people faced power outages.

The Social Democrats said it was "completely unacceptable" that the government was "missing in action" following the destruction of Storm Éowyn last month.

Sinn Féin's Claire Kerrane told the government: "you're about 12 days too late, you return here as the vast majority of homes are reconnected."

"Shame on this government," Kerrane added, "for not reconvening the Dáil."

Martin told the Dáil that "he does not take lightly" the importance of the economic relationship with the US.

The government will protect it "whilst also maintaining our values and our foreign policy," he said.

It comes as two proposals were brought to Cabinet, one to establish a consultative trade forum in Ireland chaired by the tánaiste, and another to establish a strategic advisory group of businesses in the US with Irish connections.

At the centre of these proposals is the threat from US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on the EU, and his suggestion of a US Gaza takeover.

Martin said in relation to Gaza the most important thing is the ceasefire, to "make sure the second phase is confirmed" and to ensure "all hostages are released".

Sinn Féin introduced a private members motion calling for the Occupied Territories Bill to be enacted.

The bill aims to ban trade between Ireland and Israel's illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Speaking in the Dáil, the party leader Mary Lou McDonald said: "The people of Ireland have stood up for the Palestinian people, they have marched and called for an end to the genocide."

"The people of Ireland stand once again on the right side of history and they call on their government to stand on that side."

She said the Occupied Territories Bill is not only a legal response to Israel's "brutal crimes" but that it "chimes directly with the values of the Irish people".

McDonald urged the government not to replace the legislation with a "watered-down version" which would represent a "stunning betrayal of the Palestinian people".

She described Donald Trump's latest remark on a Gaza 'takeover' as "astounding in it's cruelty".

Analysis by Kevin Sharkey, BBC News NI Dublin reporter

The rowdy scenes witnessed when the new Dáil met for the first time a fortnight ago are now in the rear-view mirror.

Part of the fallout - reputational damage and some wounded political egos.

There was no repeat when the Dáil met for the first time since the new government was eventually elected last month, a day late.

Now, this government can get down to the real business of running the country while the opposition can prepare to mark the government's homework over the next five years.

There is no shortage of urgent business for the new government and one of the pressing issues of this particular moment demonstrates how unforeseen events can easily torpedo the best mapped out strategy of any government - the fallout from Storm Éowyn.

People around the country are now asking how tens of thousands of homes, farms and businesses could be left without power for more than a week, and thousands more left without electricity almost two weeks after the storm.

The issues around potential US tariffs will certainly concentrate the minds of this government and the annual St Patrick's Day exodus of ministers to the US will be particularly focused this year.

At home, the opposition is already waiting to pounce on the government's handling of the ongoing national housing crisis and the provision of basic healthcare services.

The opposition also knows that the government will be relying continuously on the support of Independent TDs to survive.

So, all considered, there will be many hurdles for this new Irish government over the next five years.

Belt up for a bumpy ride.