Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are now engaged with local authorities, approved housing bodies and every other stakeholder that can contribute to offering solutions to the huge social housing deficit. We will deliver on that because the next phase of that implementation is about to be rolled out in coming weeks. The Deputy will see in his constituency as in other constituencies, the start of that delivery.

This year alone, the social housing strategy will provide more than 7,000 social housing units and a further 8,500 units will be secured under the HAP scheme. The total housing provision will result in an investment of almost €800 million across a range of housing programmes. So the Deputy should acknowledge that there is a lot of action.

As I mentioned earlier, a recent PRTB poll found that only 64% of tenants are aware of their rights under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Having regard to these findings the PRTB is developing a national communications strategy to ensure that tenants are aware of their rights and are not being removed from their homes, as the Deputy says, at the whim of a landlord. We will monitor the rental situation closely and will take action where we feel it appropriate.

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