Senator hits out at Government failures amid ongoing housing crisis in Leitrim

It emerged this week that Leitrim has the highest number of vacant houses in the country, and the lowest number of housing commencements.

The latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report revealed that construction activity increased nationally in Q2 of 2025, rising by 9.2 percent in June (2,018 buildings) compared with June 2024.

Nationally, construction activity rose in the second quarter of 2025, with building work up 9.2 percent in June (2,018 buildings) compared with the same month in 2024. 

But in Leitrim, and neighbouring Longford, fewer than 150 buildings were under construction between them, underscoring the region’s lack of housing momentum.

Senator Nessa Cosgrove said the findings “will come as a surprise to nobody” who has followed Ireland’s housing crisis in recent years.

READ NEXT: MEP visits Leitrim to highlight EU support for small and medium sized enterprises

She criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, accusing the Government of misleading the public during the 2024 General Election, when housing was identified as the most pressing issue.

“They told us that the private market would, in 2024, deliver 40,000 homes. The innovative solutions, including a State Construction company, building homes for families across the country, as proposed by Labour, were rejected,” she said.

In the end, just 30,000 homes were delivered, 6.7 percent fewer than in 2023.

“Through brazen misrepresentation of the figures, the outgoing Government was able to dodge the blame for this shambles in the eyes of the electorate. 

“All Political Parties, and commentators have agreed that the current Government will be judged beyond all other measures, by their performance on housing,” Senator Cosgrove added.

READ NEXT: Leitrim holds onto top spot for vacant buildings as national rate drops

While supply struggles, prices continue to soar. The CSO reported that the national average house price jumped by 9.8 percent to €420,469.

Dublin remains the priciest market, with an average transaction of €585,754. Leitrim, at the other end of the scale, has the lowest average house price at €204,323, but very few new homes are being delivered.

Rents are also climbing sharply in the county, with the average now at €1,261.

“If private developers, whose rationale is to make a profit, can not deliver the required number of homes in Dublin and in more affluent parts of the country, should we be surprised that they can not deliver the required number of homes in Leitrim?

“We can not expect the free market to deliver the number of homes required, at a price which ordinary people can afford,” Senator Cosgrove said.

READ NEXT: Planning application seeks to replace building with 32 new homes in Leitrim town

She accused successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments of “slavishly following free-market laissez-faire economic policies,” mismanaging the crash, overheating the economy during recovery, and allowing pension and vulture funds to profit while homelessness spiralled.

“In this ongoing emergency the State needs to listen to innovative ideas and take a much more active role in delivering the homes which people need, not only in Leitrim, across the whole country,” she concluded.