Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

It is one of a range of areas. We are looking at the whole allocations policy currently and I had a meeting with officials recently in that regard. This is one area we will consider. It is always a matter of figuring out how to allocate priority and different local authorities have different ways of doing it. This is certainly one area under consideration. We must leave some flexibility to each local authority in terms of how they allocate housing, but guidance will be provided at national level. We are looking at the issue and are very aware of the number of people in need of social housing and the economic downturn has contributed greatly to this need. We must find ways of addressing the issue. I referred to the voluntary sector and believe there is capacity there to raise funding in a way the State cannot. We want to use the voluntary and co-operative sectors more than they have been used in the past as well.

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