Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Any new housing policy should have that. I am in favour of rent allowance and tenant purchase, as is the party I represent. I highlight the huge demand in Monasterevin, Portarlington, Mountmellick and Portlaoise. There is a demand across the constituency, as there is in south Kildare. I am sure the Deputy beside me will highlight the issue in north Kildare. However, there is pent-up demand in south Kildare. It is absolutely diabolical at the moment and needs to be addressed.

What is the number of new housing starts and units purchased in 2014? I know that units are purchased for good reasons at some times. From what the Minister has said, I take it that 1,400 units were given the go-ahead to start or be purchased in 2015. Will the Minister clarify that figure? In the mid to late 1930s some 8,000 or 9,000 houses were being built.

How many of the 1,400 units will the approved housing bodies have and how many will the local authorities have? By and large the approved housing bodies do reasonably good work. However, there are some issues. There is a huge amount of housing being built from the public purse and I strongly defend that. The approved housing bodies have a role, but they are registered charities. Some of them operate very much like companies. Apart from some of the older ones, they are very much commercial operations. These approved housing bodies have already acquired a large housing stock over which there is concern. There is also concern within the local authorities about allocations in that the local authorities do not have full control over the allocations to those most in need.

There is an issue with some housing bodies cherry-picking, with what are described as the worst, more difficult or troublesome tenants winding up in the local authority estates. I can show the Minister examples of that if he spends an hour or two with me some day.