Like any Programme for Government today’s document provides the incoming Cabinet with plenty of wriggle room in the event they can’t live up to their promises.
The housing crisis has been listed as the top priority for the incoming administration, which is made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents.
There are some new initiatives to deal with this crisis.
But the Programme for Government largely sticks with the outgoing coalition’s plans.
Perhaps that’s not surprising since the only change to government composition is swapping the Green Party for Independents.
The most important element is the housing target which mirrors the commitment to build 300,000 homes by 2030 in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil manifestos.
Observers argue this falls far short of what is needed.
The Central Bank said if Ireland was to deal with the crisis within ten years it needed to build 70,000 homes per annum to address the housing shortfall and future demand.
The Programme for Government does include a commitment to introduce a register of rental prices.
That would allow prospective tenants to see what price a property rented at in the past.
It also promises to introduce a publicly available register of land prices.
Both ideas were included in a report by experts on the Housing Commission.
The Programme for Government also says it will “continue to review the effectiveness of rent pressure zones”.
There are concerns these caps on rents are forcing some landlords from the market and leading to underinvestment in rental properties.
But dismantling rent controls would be a political nightmare.
The new coalition promises to speed up conveyancing and set a target of 8 weeks for the legal profession.
It is also committed to dealing with probate or handling the estate of a deceased individual more quickly.
These measures will be welcomed if they can be achieved.
However, when Ireland required a bailout more than a decade ago the EU and IMF tried to introduce legal system reforms which never materialised.
The new Government says it will enact a new Compulsory Purchase Order Bill with strengthened powers to activate under used land for home building.
It also promises statutory timelines for connections to the water network to speed up the delivery of service land.
That will require more funding for Uisce Éireann, formerly Irish Water, which the incoming coalition says it will provide.
But it does not pin itself down to a specific amount of capital investment.
One new initiative is the commitment to launch a new starter homes programme across the public and private sector plus approved housing bodies aimed at delivering 15,000 units per annum.
The new coalition says it will build 12,000 new social homes on average every year.
It also remains committed to the Help to Buy scheme which allows buyers to reclaim up to €30,000 in tax paid in the past from the Revenue Commissioners and use it to pay for a deposit on a house.
It is also retaining the First Homes scheme which allows the Government or a participating bank to pay up to 30% of the cost of a new home in return for taking a 30% shareholding.
Both schemes help buyers get on the property ladder, but observers argue they may be adding to property price inflation which is already running at almost 10% per annum.