Update 1.17pm: The Government is to miss its own deadline for launching an Action Plan for Housing.

The plan was due to be published within 100 days of Fine Gael and its Independent allies taking office.

But that deadline is now being abandoned, because the deadline falls during the August break.

Housing minister Simon Coveney says the document will instead be published in early September, when clear action can be taken.

“I think that’s the likely timing for it at this stage, which essentially is launching it just immediately after the 100 days and then selling it … we could launch it at the end of July and then have everybody heading off on holidays and I just don’t think that’s the kind of momentum we want this project to generate,” he said.

The Programme for Government states: “The first major initiative of the new Minister for Housing and the Government will be to, draw on the work of the new Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessness, draft and publish within the first 100 days a new Action Plan for Housing.”

Earlier:

The housing minister has said he ‘won’t play party politics’ in trying to solve the housing and homelessness crisis.

Simon Coveney has also said Ireland will need to build far more than 25,000 homes per year to catch up with demand.

The new housing minister is appearing before the Dáil’s emergency housing committee this morning.

He says he won’t dismiss suggestions from members simply because of which party they belong to: “You won’t find me overly party political on this issue.

“I can promise you that, if people have sensible suggestions we will listen, and we will try to respond.

“We are not going to agree on everything, so lets not pretend we are.

“But I do think we can agree on a lot that can actually move the process forward.”