Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy said there were 100,000 people; there are 56,000 households. Many people already are receiving supports such as the rent supplement scheme. Opportunities exist for local authorities and voluntary bodies. The Deputy will be aware that in September 2009 I extended to the voluntary bodies the opportunity to go into long-term leasing. This is proving very successful. Even though it is a new scheme, we were in a position to acquire over 2,000 homes in 2009 and we set a target of between 4,000 and 4,500 for 2010.

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