Long-awaited debate between Housing Minister and O'Bróin to take place on RTÉ Primetime

The long-awaited debate between the Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien and Sinn Féin's housing spokesman, Eoin O'Bróin, is due to take place on RTÉ Primetime tomorrow (Thursday February 3). 

It comes following RTÉ's week-long focus on the housing crisis covering multiple issues, such as the generation gap between parents and children on the affordability of housing. 

On Thursday's Prime Time show, both the government's Housing for All strategy and Sinn Féin's housing proposals will be examined. 

Housing For All aims to deliver 300,000 homes by the end of 2030, with 33,000 to be built every year up to and including 2025. 

However, the strategy has been criticised by opposition parties since its release last year as not going far enough, with Minister O'Bróin stating there is nothing in the plan to tackle rising rents. 

In September 2021, Minister O'Bróin called the plan "a rehash of the same failed policies of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael" and said it was "a huge disappointment" for thousands of ordinary people. 

Promises in the Housing For All strategy include an average of 2,000 new "cost rental" homes every year, with targets of rents being at least 25% below market level. 

Discussion on housing has intensified since the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown began, with rents in the third quarter of 2021 growing by over 8%. This marks the highest growth rate between quarters since the fourth quarter of 2017. 

That's according to data from Daft.ie, which also noted quarter three (quarter four data is not yet available) has the lowest rental stock since 2006. 

Daft.ie has also reported housing prices rose by an average of almost 8% in 2021. 

The debate will air tomorrow (February 3) on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.