The relationship between the Government and multinational companies has “never been stronger”, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney has said.
Mr Coveney acknowledged that such companies were “concerned about housing” but added that the Government was too.
The minister was speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, where Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said that she didn’t think the multinationals “believe your assurances on housing anymore”.
“They, like us, have been listening to the same broken promises for years,” she said.
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Ms Cairns asked Mr Coveney if he was aware of any businesses that are considering “buying up entire housing estates for their workers”.
In response, Mr Coveney said the relationship between the Government and companies providing foreign direct investment in Ireland has “never been stronger”.
“That’s why we’re seeing the kind of corporation tax revenue streams this year and what’s being predicted for next year and the year after because actually Ireland is a country that multinationals have extraordinary confidence in,” he said.
“The relationship that they have with this Government in terms of faith in what we are doing around enterprise policy has never been stronger. We now see over 300,000 people employed by US multinationals across the country.”
Mr Coveney said while certain housing targets weren’t met last year, he promised there would be “a dramatic acceleration” this year of affordable housing schemes.
The minister said there needed to be between 40,000 and 50,000 housing units built per year including more than 10,000 social houses.
Ms Cairns said Chambers Ireland had warned about the shortage of housing causing companies to take “drastic action” while Ibec had identified problems around affordable housing.
“Workers are now increasingly spending upwards of 40 and even 50 per cent of their take-home pay just to keep a roof over their heads,” the Social Democrats leader said.
“This is not just unsustainable at any time but in the middle of a cost of living crisis it is creating huge hardship. The reality is, housing is now only affordable for those on the highest incomes.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said Fine Gael had been in power for more than 12 years and in that time the Government had made “decision after decision” that had escalated the housing crisis into “a full blown emergency”.
“Rents are out of control, a whole generation is locked out of home ownership and homelessness has reached a record level that we could have only imagined,” the Dublin Central TD said.
“This is the dire situation, seven years after you as housing minister, said the Government would end homelessness and you failed.
“Even with a significant recovery in public finances, Government refused to provide the necessary investment in housing, instead of building homes Fine Gael pushed thousands of people into the private rental market. That’s what’s brought us to where we are today.”
