UNSIGNED PREVIEW — not a promoted public release.
Actor: Micheál Martin
insufficient_evidenceTopic: housing
Office: Taoiseach
Evidence: 13 events
Sources: 13
This promise by Micheál Martin has INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE for a rating. Only 13 evidence events were found. More research is needed before a reliable assessment can be made.
This promise is SPECIFIC (vagueness score: 20/100). It includes measurable targets or deadlines that make it trackable. Specific promises are easier to verify as kept or broken.
Issue category: housing
The government announced the Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan 2024–2031 on 29 May 2024, targeting 4,367 acute hospital beds (3,438 net new + 929 replacement) by 2031, described as the largest expansion of hospital bed capacity in decades.
The Programme for Government 2025, agreed between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (with independent support), includes a headline commitment to increase hospital bed capacity by between 4,000 and 4,500 new and refurbished inpatient beds.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill published 'The Path to Universal Healthcare — Sláintecare 2025+' on 14 May 2025, setting out 23 projects and programmes across three strategic priority areas (Improving Access, Improving Service Quality, and Building System Capacity) to achieve universal, affordable, high-quality health and social care by 2027.
Minister McEntee and Minister of State Moynihan published Education Plan 2025 on 19 June 2025, which included 'Improving school transport' as a committed action: conducting evaluation of pilot projects and commencing introduction of eTicketing to plan for an expanded scheme.
In the 2025/26 school year, almost 178,000 children were being transported daily — up from 120,000 in 2018, representing an almost 50% increase. The target is 260,000 pupils (an additional 100,000) by 2030.
Investment in the school transport scheme more than doubled from €200 million in 2018 to €512 million in 2024. In 2024, a record 172,000 pupils travelled on the scheme.
Budget 2026 allocated over €69 million in additional permanent funding to the School Transport Scheme to meet rising demand, provide more places including for children with special educational needs, and cover rising operational costs.
Budget 2026 investment in the School Transport Scheme will bring 170,000 students to and from school, with €69 million additional funding allocated.
Capital funding of €1.7 billion was confirmed as allocated to the Defence Development Plan for the period 2026–2030 in an Oireachtas answer, an increase of €600 million.
Minister for Defence Helen McEntee launched the Defence Sectoral National Development Plan 2026–2030, a record €1.7 billion capital investment plan for Defence, representing a 55% increase over previous allocations (an additional €600 million).
The €1.7 billion plan includes military-grade radar (deployment starting in 2026), sonar systems for the naval service, up to a dozen helicopters, drone and anti-drone units, and upgraded armoured vehicles.
Close to €70 million of additional permanent funding was confirmed allocated to school transport services in December 2025 to provide for additional demand on the scheme.
The scaling up of delivery of homes is an absolute priority for this government. Today's plan sets out how we will build the homes people and communities across the country need between now and the end of 2030.
An Oireachtas question on 14 April 2026 stated: 'It is proposed to expand access to the scheme so that an additional 100,000 pupils can be carried by 2030.' This confirms the target remains government policy.
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