Now the Irish general election results are in, the negotiations to form a coalition can start. But getting a deal together could be achieved much faster than last time, which means the new administration can swiftly turn its focus to key issues - like increasing housing construction.
Quite apart from the fact the last election in February 2020 meant Covid-19 was a big distraction to the work of building a coalition, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael now look well placed to continue their partnership with 48 and 38 seats respectively, with just two short of a majority and with a variety of potential partners. Sinn Fein, with 39 seats, will remain in opposition.
This means construction firms can plan ahead and order plant machinery in the knowledge of how the new administration is likely to progress policies aimed at increasing home ownership, with both the main coalition partiespromising to build 303,000 new homes in the next five years, a less ambitious target than Sinn Fein’s goal of 370,000.
Of course, how this is achieved is another matter, but it is notable that of the potential coalition partners, the Social Democrats also have the 303,000 aim in mind, while Labour pledged 65,000 a year. This is higher than the 50-53,000 targeted by the Greens, who are set to lose their place in the coalition after crashing from 12 seats to one.
Targets are one matter, but specific measures are important too. While there has been much debate about policy proposals such as the help-to-buy tax breaks favoured by Fianna Fail, other measures that could be under consideration might include abolishing VAT on construction materials, as advocated by Aontu, which has returned two TDs.
Whatever the make-up of the new coalition may turn out to be, the 62 per cent year-on-year rise in housing starts recorded in October does at least give the residential construction industry some momentum ahead of the upcoming weeks of horse-trading.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdnlv8n758o
