The State will need to take “emergency measures” to provide electricity supplies needed for new homes, ESB chief executive Paddy Hayes has told the Government. Barry O’Halloran writes that industry figures are warning that Government efforts to end the Republic’s long-running housing shortage will strain energy and water supply networks.

That alert comes as Minister for Finance Pascal Donohoe extends the VAT cut on apartment sales to forward-funding deals, which are increasingly used by approved housing bodies and others to deliver apartments. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.

That might be needed as data from Construction Information Services says new housing commencements fell by 49 per cent to their lowest level since the Covid-19 lockdowns in the third quarter of 2025. Eoin writes that the figures raise fresh doubts about the Government’s plan to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030.