Ms Laura Behan:

In response to Deputy Séamus McGrath's question earlier, at this stage we have a good handle on housing need. A tool is being developed by the ESRI, which has identified the new housing need arising over the coming five years and attempts to identify how much of that is social housing need, private housing need and how much is need with affordability constrained, that is, people who cannot afford to meet their housing need fully with private means but are not eligible for social housing. Based on what is emerging from that analysis so far, the targeted level of affordable housing supports we are putting in place over the next five years certainly looks to be in the right area, as regards meeting the need that is expected to arise.