Mr. John McCarthy:

Targets were set in 2015 for the period 2015-17 for all local authorities. Now that the 2016 social housing needs assessment has been completed we had indicated we would revisit those targets for all local authorities prioritising where the needs were greatest as between the different local authorities. We have equally said to local authorities that if they have proposals which they felt they could not accommodate within the budgetary allocation provided to them they should come and talk to us. We have said this ever since the targets were first set in 2015 because things move at different paces. Things that we might expect to move at a particular pace in one local authority for one reason or another might not do so. The last thing we want is to be in a situation where collectively we are not using all the valuable resources that have been made available to us for meeting housing needs.

Last year, through that agile management of projects that were moving slowly and being able to move in with other delivery mechanisms, we spent our entire housing budget. We have a significant increase in that housing budget this year and aim again to spend wisely every single euro that is available to us. It will require ongoing agile management. I am not sure whether Deputy Coppinger was here earlier but in respect of recognising the priority and pressures in Dublin we engage on an incredibly regular basis with the four Dublin local authorities at chief executive and director of housing level in order to ensure we are doing everything we possibly can to be able to work with them to deliver on their housing programmes. That is the business we are in and will continue to be in.