Simon Harris explains how his 250,000 homes promise will come about [Video]

Simon Harris has defended his commitment to build 250,000 homes over five years, saying the construction industry has assured him it can be done, writes Brian Mahon.

Housing is set to be one of the key political issues in the next general election.

In his first Ard Fheis speech as party leader a number of weeks ago, Mr Harris said that if Fine Gael is returned to government, he would aim to build 250,000 homes between 2025 and 2030.

The comments were criticised over the weekend by his Coalition colleague Eamon Ryan who cautioned against making promises that could not be kept.

But yesterday Mr Harris defended the commitment saying the Government must refocus its efforts on the “biggest challenge” currently facing the State.

This, he said, was to “get the kids out of the box rooms”, and to “get the renters out of rental accommodation into mortgage-owned properties”.

Mr Harris told RTÉ’s Today …