Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has asked a critical question. He is right to ask why we do not have more social housing. We do not have to go back too far to find the obvious answer, which is that local authorities have not been building social housing to the necessary extent for the past ten to 15 years. There was an over-dependence on Part V private development. When such development stopped, the dividend in the form of the delivery of social housing from that avenue also stopped. We are now addressing the problem in that regard. If the cash in lieu measure introduced by the previous Government which essentially allowed developers to pay cash rather than delivering on their social housing obligations had not been introduced some years ago we would have over 10,000 additional units that we do not have today. I am glad to say the Government has removed the cash in lieu obligation. The Deputy's main question was related to the establishment of another housing body to deliver housing. I am saying clearly to him that the local authorities are the housing authorities. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is prioritising housing. The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, and I have allocated ring-fenced funding in our budgets. We are also working with the approved housing bodies. We are working with the private sector through public private partnerships and other avenues to deliver as many houses as possible. The simple establishment of another agency would not solve the problem. The angle being taken by the Government involves a multifaceted approach.

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