Only 8% of the 10,000 affordable houses outlined in the plan have been built so far. Now it seems the taoiseach is anxious to inject some life into the white elephant, with a new government agency responsible for restarting the affordable-homes programme.
The Affordable Housing Partnership will spearhead a scheme through which the state will swap premium publicly owned city-centre sites with developers for affordable housing elsewhere. Publicly owned blue-chip city-centre sites for less valuable peripheral tracts? Sounds like another big thanks to the big fellas of the Irish construction sector.