Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in this morning. I appreciate all of the work that has been done and the progress that has been made on the issue of homelessness but it is an escalating crisis month on month. Do we have data on or do we hold interviews with the people who are becoming homeless to identify the reasons behind homelessness? If we have that data can it be shared with the committee?

I have heard more and more evidence that many homeless families from Dublin have been shoved out into neighbouring counties and are being accommodated there. Do we have any statistics on that?

One of the more worrying statistics is that while the crisis is mainly in Dublin we are seeing a greater percentage increase in homelessness outside of Dublin. Since March last year we have seen an 81% increase in families and a 55% increase in children becoming homeless, which is an escalation.

On the social housing programme, I believe we are not really at the game when 75% of the projects are for 20 units or fewer. We are not really tackling the problem. We use sustainable development as the excuse for not being able to build larger estates, but if we were to use public housing and mixed tenure, such as social housing, affordable housing and affordable rent, we could provide that and build larger housing developments. I understand that procurement and planning are the two aspects of the four stage process that are killing the process, or greatly slowing it down.

The Minister has said that finance is not the problem. If finance is not the problem surely it is fiscal space? We do not have a bottomless pit of money when it comes to finance.

I would appreciate a quick update on An Bord Pleanála. The Minister mentioned that some 5,000 homes are currently going through An Bord Pleanála's process. There is no way of tracking the applications at the moment. Is there any way that this committee can be given data on how that is progressing, specifically concerning the two pre-consultation processes, with the council and An Bord Pleanála's pre-planning process?

We are beginning to have a debate about vacant properties, local authorities and the accuracy of the CSO information on this area. We need to get to the bottom of the issue of vacant properties. The census will say the numbers do not include over-shop premises, and we all know that in every rural town and even in the cities there are a huge number of them.

Regarding approved housing bodies, what is the percentage of the market rent being paid? Is it different or is it the same for everyone? When will we have the review of the rental pressure zones which, I think, was promised in early summer? Where are we regarding the skills shortage? The construction industry has identified a major shortfall in construction skills.