Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have set out our housing target for this year. It is for 12,750 units, of which 2,450 will be through long-term leasing. I do not see leasing as taking over from Part V. Last year, 19 or 20 homes were secured under Part V leasing. We must be aware of value for money. My big focus is on building new homes, which is why we have allocated funding for that.

There is a role for leasing. Most people want to have a formal lease and buy-back arrangement but the capital issue is that with leasing we can secure more homes initially and up-front for a lesser capital cost at the outset. It makes sense to have certain delivery models in that regard and that we have a blend of delivery.

I saw the report in relation to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and the homes to which the Deputy referred and I will certainly look into the matter.

Incidentally, the number of leasing units under Part V was actually 16, not 19, in 2020. It is a very small number.

We delivered over 7,000 public homes last year. We would have liked to do more than that but we were affected by the construction shutdown. Leasing has a role but the focus of the Government is on new builds utilising our own stock properly. The approved housing bodies, AHBs, have a role in this as well, particularly on the turnkey side and delivering public homes on private land. We are in the midst of a housing crisis. We need to build 33,000 public and private homes per annum.

Right now, we are well off that. Last year, even without the pandemic, we would probably have reached about 25,000 homes in total between public and private. We need more than that. We have to look at increasing our own housing stock and using all avenues open to us to deliver homes for people. The Part V leasing unit number is 16. I will look into the issue that the Deputy raised about Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. I have not made any conclusion on that and will investigate it with regard to other local authorities too. I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan for his question.