'Challenging' for Govt to meet 2030 housing target

The Central Bank has said it will be "challenging" for the Government to meet its target of building 300,000 homes by the end of 2030.

The bank modestly increased its forecast for residential construction over the coming years.

It said it anticipated 33,000 homes would be built this year, 37,000 next year, 40,500 in 2027 and 44,500 in 2028.

The bank warned bottlenecks in housing supply and high construction costs "may continue to push up rents and housing-related inflation which in turn could contribute to upward pressure on wages and goods and prices".

In its latest economic forecast, the bank said there will be slower growth in the Irish economy next year with higher inflation.

It said the domestic economy would grow 4% this year and an average of 2.9% between 2026 and 2028.

The Central Bank said: "The rapid growth in employment and incomes that underpinned consumer spending since 2021 is expected to continue to moderate, feeding into a lower projected pace of growth in modified domestic demand."

The bank also said the strong growth in employment of recent years will ease back.

It said the numbers of people in jobs will rise by less than less than 2%, while the unemployment rate will be an average of 5% over the coming years.

It said inflation would be an average of 2% between now and 2028.

Robert Kelly, the Central Bank's Director of Statistics, said: "Despite the notable challenges the Irish economy has faced this year it has shown resilience throughout 2025."

"Multinational sectors that predominantly export are adapting to a changing international environment for trade and investment, and so far that adjustment has been relatively benign for Ireland.

"Domestic activity signals are more mixed, with data pointing to a slower pace of growth and higher inflation."