A major row over funding for social housing had to be defused by Taoiseach Micheál Martin to secure €150m extra for new homes, writes Muiris Ó Cearbhaill.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform refused to sanction the funding for Housing Minister James Browne, insisting that requests for additional funding were "inappropriate" and would not be "entertained".

Internal documents obtained by the Irish Daily Mail reveal that after a row that went on for months, Minister Browne only secured the funding following an intervention by the Taoiseach.

Browne told his department in April that Martin wanted officials to request extra funding to deliver more social housing, records show.

According to correspondence between officials, the move backfired when officials in the Department of Public Expenditure (DPER) said the way in which the Department of Housing begged for more money was "entirely inappropriate".

A total of €450m was allocated for social housing approval at the beginning of this year. Within two weeks, officials in Housing realised they would need more funding from DPER to meet their targets this year.

Additionally, most of the €450m was used to tackle a backlog of approvals which dated back to 2024. The delay effectively stalled the delivery of up to 5,000 homes due to a lack of funds.

Sources claim the gap in funding arose as Housing had successively underspent its budget in previous years. It also came at a time when the department was on track to meet social housing targets last year.

The government subsequently missed its targets for last year by almost 2,500 homes. It has agreed to deliver over 50,000 homes, on average, each year until 2030.

One source said DPER "ground everything to a halt" for approvals in 2025 and 2026. Housing officials were reportedly told to hold off greenlighting plans for future projects if full funding could not be committed as a result.

Officials launched a new protocol to ease the backlog once the €450m was allocated this year. According to documents, staff were told to approve applications up until the point that allowed councils to issue a tender for new social housing projects. This would not require sign off from upper management.

Public acquisition of homes, under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility, still required approval at the point of purchase. Staff were warned to be "judicious" about what they approved – particularly for "turnkey" projects, where local authorities buy an existing home from the private market – and were told to only greenlight projects which were sure to be delivered this year.

In an email to a senior finance official in Housing, the assistant secretary at the social housing division said he did not want to "give the impression it is open season" for spending vast amounts.

Within two weeks of receiving the €450m, the assistant secretary warned staff in February that once spending reached a certain point, the team would have to "shut up shop" unless the department was able to secure additional funding.

It was not until nearly two months later that Browne and Martin scheduled a meeting, before which the Taoiseach told the Housing Minister to direct his staff to make a formal request for extra funding based on current spending and delivery estimates included in internal reports, records show.

One email about this report detailed that staff were told estimated figures would be acceptable, so the request could be delivered in time for the meeting between Martin and Browne.

Another email – to staff members tasked with commissioning the internal report – which has been seen by the Mail, directed the team to focus solely on social housing, with the row over funding in its fourth month, as it was seen as a "priority" for Martin to sort out the internal spat.

Officials at DPER were not pleased with the way the request was being conducted – which was described in one email as Browne’s method to get the Taoiseach on his side.

The assistant secretary of social housing said he told the public spending official his team were directed to make the request, in an obvious attempt to detail the level at which the row had escalated.

In August, it was announced that the Department of Housing had got an extra €184m to assist with the delivery of social housing. Most of that funding has been allocated to the Capital Advance Leasing Facility scheme so that local authorities have the capital to buy homes from the private market.

Speaking to the Mail, Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin said: "We’re meant to have an all-of-government approach [to housing]... but for six, seven, eight months, the Department of Public Expenditure… blocked any number of things, created a huge battleground and, ultimately, James Browne had to go to the Taoiseach to get this resolved."

Ó Broin said that Housing has received "only marginally" more funding than what it spent last year – meaning officials may need even more funding to meet new housing targets this year.

The Mail revealed last week that officials in Housing have warned Browne the Government is on course to miss its housing targets for every year it is in office.

The Department of Housing predictions are based on extensive data ranging from planning permissions, commencement notices, completions, sectoral forecasts as well as activity in the construction sector.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised during last year’s election that 40,000 new homes would be built per year by the end of 2024.

A spokesman for the Department of Housing said it will continue to work with Public Expenditure to ensure an appropriate level of capital is available for housing.

Three separate extra allocations – €450m in February, €265m in March and €696m in July – have been secured by the department since the beginning of this year. A total of €7.5bn has been allocated for housing capital in 2025, the spokesman said.

On the delay in funding, the spokesman added: "Work is continuing at pace with all delivery partners to accelerate momentum, deliver targets and build a sustainable programme of delivery across all tenures."

A spokesman for Public Expenditure said: "In-year requests are subject to considerable negotiations and were subsequently agreed."

He added that the department committed €36bn to housing delivery projects between 2026 and 2030.

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said requesting updates on housing projects – specifically for social, affordable, or cost rental – is a standard request from Martin to the Minister.

The Department of the Taoiseach was asked for comment.

Photo: Micheál Martin. (Pic: Leon Farrell/© RollingNews.ie)