Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that the Minister is making housing a priority. He is right to do so because it has become a great crisis and has not been helped by the fact that previous Administrations left it to private landlords to deal with people on housing lists. I am sure the Minister will not be able to give an accurate figure but is there a good indication from the four local authorities in the Dublin area that they are coming up with sufficient numbers for the Department to get ahead with building in this area in particular and also in other cities such as Galway and Cork where there is great pressure to provide housing?

Has any thought been given to the type of units that are being built because the traditional three-bedroom unit is suitable for some families but not necessarily for others? Could the Minister comment on the voids situation, particularly in Dublin city, and whether it is getting on top of voids?

My constituency is in one of the pilot counties for the housing assistance payment, HAP. My impression is that it may be easier to roll out HAP when more housing becomes available. Does the Minister think there will be problems? My fear is that landlords may not bite. Can it be made as easy as possible for landlords to get involved in that because at the moment, they tend to want to take private customers who are paying their own rent?