Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for joining us today and for their work in the local authorities. I feel like a poacher turned gamekeeper with the colleagues from Dublin City Council. My first questions are for Dublin City Council and I may come back in the following rounds. When I was a member of that council, we had many debates on how to increase housing delivery. With Housing for All, the Government has made a number of very significant changes again giving the local authorities the power to deliver affordable homes to purchase for the first time ever and affordable cost-rental. It is also ending co-living, committing to ending leasing and putting a significant emphasis on increasing the number of builds.

The Dublin City Council report refers to the historical social housing figures over recent years. It does not give a detailed projection for the next five years. From a city perspective, homelessness is the acute end of the problem and that is not captured at all in the report. I absolutely acknowledge Dublin City Council's role in its leadership of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. Certainly, in Dublin Central where more than 60% of the emergency accommodation is provided, I am acutely aware of how important it is and what a priority it is for Dublin City Council.

However, to fix homelessness we need to increase the number of social houses. I genuinely welcome Dublin City Council's doubling of new builds for next year. If it is to reach the target of 15,000, it will need to double that every year for the next four years. Every year it will need to double what it did the year before. Is it geared up to do that? Does it have the resources? Mr. Keegan very accurately called out the external challenges. I ask for a detailed projection on that.

Once the social side of things is fixed, affordability is a major issue in the city. The introduction of affordable cost-rental is a game-changer for people who do not qualify for social housing by giving them access to affordable secure rental accommodation. What are Dublin City Council's plans for the roll-out of affordable cost-rental? What is Dublin City Council doing or what can it do to accelerate delivery? O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin Central has planning permission for more than 1,000 units. That is a mixed development of social, affordable purchase and affordable cost-rental. Planning permission was granted many months ago. While Dublin City Council has delivered its first phase, construction has not commenced on the second phase, the bigger portion of that site. Similarly, St. Finbar's Court, St. Mary's Place in Dorset Street and Matt Talbot Court are all planned Dublin City Council developments. When will construction commence?