Taoiseach Simon Harris has said that almost 40,000 new homes would be completed this year, and reiterated his pledge to build a quarter of million new homes over the next five years.
In a speech delivered at the annual Michael Collins commemoration at Béal na Bláth in Co Cork on Sunday, Mr Harris said: “This year, we will exceed our housing targets with almost 40,000 homes built. This includes the biggest social housing build since 1975.
“But I know our greatest challenge remains delivery at pace. Over the next five years, we must build 250,000 homes for our people. And we will build 250,000 homes for our people.”
Mr Harris first made the pledge in the spring at his first ardfheis as Fine Gael leader.
“The work is already under way,” he told the gathering at the site where Collins was killed in an ambush in 1922, a fixture in the Fine Gael calendar. “Each local authority has been asked to undertake the preparatory work on zoning land for 50,000 new homes each year.”
He said he would propose a new Department of Infrastructure in the next Government, which he said would “help deliver on our plans and priorities and shape the neighbourhoods, towns and villages where we will live and work”.
Mr Harris also used his speech to attack those who spread hate and disinformation about migrants online. “Anger is now an accepted form of political discourse by some,” he said. “Hate and violence are common responses to difficult decisions.
“Misinformation and lies are the greatest risk of democracy and peace in our time. Nowhere is that more evident here than in the area of migration.
“There is a small group of people who want a country whose history has been woven by mass emigration to diminish the value of migration.
“They seek to create a division among those who were once forced to leave their home in search of a better life with others who are now seeking to do the same.”
In a reference to anti-migrant protests that have sometimes accompanied the opening of accommodation facilities for asylum seekers, Mr Harris also that there were some people “who wave a tricolour and claim patriotism while betraying the founding principles this country prides itself on – freedom, equality, opportunity”.
Mr Harris said that Ireland is “a country of laws”, adding “it is vital we hold those who break our laws accountable.”
“Those who attack our security forces, who attack the democratically elected politicians” should be held accountable, he said.
However, he also added: “In the same way, people who break our immigration laws will be held accountable too.”
Speaking to journalists in advance of the event, Mr Harris poured cold water on a suggestion from Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly who told the Sunday Times he wanted to ban social media for under 16s.
Asked if such a proposal was desirable or feasible, Mr Harris said: “My priority in relation to social media is to see the full implementation of the Digital Services Act in an Irish context.”
He said this would result in a code of conduct for social media companies “and where something goes wrong, action can be taken”.
When pressed, Mr Harris said: “The Government certainly hasn’t decided to have a blanket ban in relation to social media. I think social media can be a good thing. I’m also of the view that these things are here to stay. Technology is here to stay . . . But I’m very clear that there is a real need for the social media companies to step up in terms of their responsibilities.”
He said he supported initiatives taken by schools to ban smartphones for primary school children and welcomed initiatives by Minister for Education Norma Foley – who has promised to ban smartphones in secondary schools – but stressed that the priority for the Government was to have the code of conduct in place by the end of the year.
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