Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I take the Deputy’s point. If we were not rolling on with the continued expenditure programme, if we stopped it now, then that money would be lost. However, we are rolling on from year to year.

The reason we are not building enough social housing is not necessarily because of money. Money and funding are part of the issue. Building the number of social housing units the housing committee asked us to build will require much money. However, there are also structures in place, decision-making processes and so on, that mean projects are not happening at the pace we need them to happen. This is a process issue, as well as an organisational, project management and funding issue. That is evident from the figures in question.

Mortgage-to-rent is recouped through local authorities. However, this scheme has not been as successful as we would have liked it to be. When it was launched, people were talking about 10,000 applicants availing of it. It has only been a fraction of that, mainly in the hundreds, however. We are looking at the mortgage-to-rent structure again to see if we can relaunch it and redesign it, if possible, in the context of the housing action plan. That is an option that needs to be available to people but it is not being taken up at the moment. I had some views as to why that is but it is a programme into which we need to put more thought.