Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The housing crisis continues to spiral out of control. As the Tánaiste knows, families still present as homeless every single day. Almost 100,000 people are on housing lists across the State, some of them for lengthy periods.

Last December, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, launched a glossy, 90-page social housing strategy. He promised that the Government would deliver 5,384 new social houses in 2015. I want to ask the Tánaiste about those 5,384 new social houses promised for this year. Unfortunately, as with so many glossy Government documents, there was very little detail as to how these units would be delivered. The additional €210 million for social housing in budget 2015 will not cover the cost of these homes. Talk of off-balance-sheet borrowing and public private partnerships is just that - talk.

The Minister, Deputy Kelly, has not even told local authorities what their social housing budget will be for 2015. If and when he does, it will take up to 15 months before any new social housing units are designed, built and tenanted. In light of all this, can the Tánaiste outline exactly how the Government intends to deliver these 5,384 social housing units this year? Where will the money come from and what councils will benefit from them? Can the Tánaiste commit to all of these units being tenanted this year, as the glossy strategy document promises?

See this speech in context