Tánaiste Simon Harris has defended the Government from accusations that the country’s housing crisis is among the “most severe” and “most complicated” in Europe.Italian MEP Irene Tinagli, chair of the European Parliament’s housing committee who has been on a fact-finding mission across Ireland in recent days, made the observation. She said evictions, institutional investors and the growth of short-term lets were all contributing to the pressure on housing.Speaking at the turning of a sod on 410 houses in Bishopstown in Cork city on Friday, Harris said that while he had not seen her exact comments the completions of new homes in Ireland “are well above the European average”.“In fact [it is] one of the very highest, so I don’t know the context of that [comment]. I also know that when I go to Europe, and I go to Brussels at least once a month, housing is a challenge in all member states.”Ireland is due to hold a summit on housing during its European Union presidency, he said. “There is a housing emergency in this country. There is too many young people who find the social contract broken and that is why I think there needs to be zero tolerance in relation to bureaucracy and downright nonsense. That is why we need to update the rural housing guidelines to have a consistent approach,” he said. “That is why we need to continue to back schemes like the Help to Buy which others want to get rid of, which I think is ludicrous.“No matter what role you play in the State, whether it is local or national government, a State agency, the housing emergency isn’t the job of someone else. It involves everyone coming together.” He said there had been encouraging data on housing completions and welcomed the 410 homes due to be built at the development in Cork which had accessed funding through the Home Building Finance Ireland agency. The Tánaiste also reiterated his commitment to overhauling rural housing rules to make it easier for families to build one-off homes.[ Planning rules for one-off housing to be eased under new proposalsOpens in new window ]“There is a lot of people in this country who just want to be able to get on with it and build their own home. I am not talking about people building a holiday home. I am talking about somebody who is from a community and wanting to build a home perhaps on their own family land or on development land nearby and at the moment the planning system is completely inconsistent,” he said. “Enabling people to live in their own community is a very important part of balanced regional development. “So what we intend to do in the month of June is to agree a new national planning statement that will basically simplify the process and reduce the bureaucracy but also help to have a consistent approach across local authorities. [The current system] is not fair and is holding people back.”