MAYOR John Moran will be commissioning an independent evaluation into why housing delivery has been so far below Limerick’s needs.
Since the Development Plan in 2022, a total of 2,876 homes were completed – just 34 per cent of the 8,443 target. Limerick’s directly-elected Mayor wants answers on what can be done to speed up delivery.
“I’ve spent over a year in my role working to understand the Limerick-specific complex housing issues and pushing forward some new innovations. I have learned a lot,” Mayor Moran said.
“Some think that what I have been pushing forward is radical in recent historic terms. But we need radical. We now have a new Director of Service for Housing so the time is ripe for a stock-take. I would now like to see independent review of historic decisions, my new courses of action, and any other alternative paths.”
Mayor Moran said “we cannot build a bright future for Limerick by ignoring or misunderstanding the reasons for the failures of the past”.
He noted that Limerick was left short of in large-scale planning permissions going into 2025 — despite the availability of significant State-owned land.
“Limerick delivers at most 800–1,000 new homes a year. We need at least 2,599 annually just to meet our existing stated targets. And in truth, to address pent‑up demand, we need closer to 4,000 homes each year,” he said.
“To catch up, we must now increase delivery by 300 per cent, totalling 15,000 homes above current delivery levels over five years.
That task is enormous and will require everyone working together.”