Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The same point applies. We have suggestions in terms of the criteria and we are more than welcome to engage in that.

I am disappointed only the executive summary of one of the cost of building studies was published last night. It does not give us data or the basis upon which some of the conclusions and recommendations have been made. That is materially relevant to the deadline we all had to meet at 11 o'clock today for submissions on apartment standards. When will the Minister publish those two studies in full? We are hearing rumours of significant disagreement between the Department, the Housing Agency, and the construction industry professionals over the content of those? Is there any truth to that? Will the Minister explain the reason for the delay in the publication of these reports?

I do not want to get into a big row about social housing figures. I am choosing my words carefully. I do not accept the 7,000 figure, partly because it comprises 800 units which are leased and are not real social housing units as the majority of them are owned by private operators. I have a concern about the build in terms of the speed and the increase in the final quarter. We cannot judge that until we see the Q4 reports. However, I am now convinced the void figure is not what we were led to believe or what we understood it to be. There is a significant number of properties in that 1,700 figure which at the start of 2017 had a tenant. They are not voids in the sense of how the scheme was originally designed. Instead, they are expensive standard re-lets and above the cap. We have to get some clarity on which are long-term voids, which we can genuinely say are additions to the stock, and which are expensive re-lets.

I welcomed the Minister's assurance at the last meeting and in parliamentary questions about approved housing body re-designation. What does the Minister expect the impact on the fiscal space for 2018 will be and how will he manage it? I welcome the reduction in all three categories of homelessness in the December figures. I am vocal in my criticism when the figures go up. I would like the Minister to know, however, that I am equally vocal in welcoming their reduction. I also welcome the fact the Minister has changed his media strategy in how he releases those figures. I hope he continues to do that, irrespective what the figures are over the next several months. Will he consider adding a new metric on the length of time individuals and families are spending in emergency accommodation? It would be useful.

I strongly suggest we stop using the term "rapid builds". It is 12 months planning and approval and nine months construction which is marginally quicker on both ends than the standard build. However, it is not rapid. We are doing ourselves a disservice by calling them rapid builds. I have no objection to this building technology but we are codding ourselves if we believe it is rapid.