Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

——and further households will benefit from the rental accommodation scheme. In the region of 13,000 households were assisted through the full range of social and affordable housing measures in 2005 and 23,000 new units of social housing will commence between 2006 and 2008. A total of 15,000 units of affordable housing will be delivered in the same period. This Government was anxious to increase the level of housing, which used to be about 25,000 in output per year. Thankfully, last year we got output up to 81,000.

Deputy Ó Caoláin is right in one respect. When we brought in Part V, there was a barrage in the House. He will recall — although he has forgotten temporarily — that the barrage did not come from this side of the House. It came from the Opposition parties because they said — it was the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Noel Dempsey's proposal that Part V be in that Act — we would stop building altogether instead of increasing supply. The matter was pressed here in leader's questions and Taoiseach's questions, not to mind questions to the Department of the Environment and Local Government, to make changes in that.

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