An economist has claimed that Ireland needs to build around 30,000 homes each year for the next 15 years.

According to Marian Finnegan, of property auctioneer Sherry Fitzgerald, Ireland’s growing population would require substantial additional housing between now and 2026.

Speaking at the National Housing Conference Ms Finnegan said: "The latest census figures show that Ireland’s population has risen to 4.58m and it is expected to increase to 5.1m people by 2026."

"Based on this population growth we can anticipate that there will be a need for an average of 30,200 new homes to be built per year over the next 15 years."

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These comments come despite the fact that more than 30,000 properties in the country are either incomplete or lying vacant.

Royal Institute of Architects (RIAI) president, Paul Keogh, has however said that the supply of empty units – many in so-called ‘ghost estates’ countrywide - would not meet future demand, as many were not located in growing centres of population.

"There is a perception that there are plenty of unoccupied housing units to meet the demand for new homes but that is not actually the case," said Mr Keogh.

"It is projected that we will build around 10,000 units in 2012 – most of which were one-off houses in the countryside – yet the need for new homes is almost three times that and is concentrated in the Greater Dublin area where supply is expected to become quite limited from next year."

The conference, organised by the Department of the Environment, Community and RIAI, is taking place in Dublin Castle’s Conference Centre.

(LB/GK)