Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question which essentially relates to the whole social housing strategy, the targets for capital and current funding and the needs-based assessments carried out by the Government in 2013. The target in the 2020 social housing strategy is for 110,000 social housing units to be provided by means of a mixture of direct provision by local authorities and approved housing bodies and indirect provision through the private rental market, mainly utilising the housing assistance payment. This targeted provision will meet the needs of the 89,872 households nationally that were identified in the 2013 summary of social housing assessments as being qualified and in need of social housing support. There is some flexibility for increased demand. Some 46,584 households, or 52% of the those identified in the 2013 assessment, were found to be dependent on rent supplement, which was meant to be a short-term measure. Over time, the housing assistance payment will provide a more suitable solution for those on rent supplement with a long-term housing need.

In its analysis of the 2013 social housing assessments the Housing Agency concluded that 35,000 new social housing units would be required in the following five years. The social housing strategy which provides for the delivery of these units has been supported in successive budgets. Over €1.7 billion in Exchequer and local authority self-funding has been allocated between 2015 and 2016. The 2013 summary of assessments was compiled on foot of a rigorous and deep analysis which involved local authorities contacting individual households to confirm their continued requirement and qualification for social housing support. It involved a comprehensive quality assurance exercise on the data, including the elimination of duplicate households. It is not methodologically sound to compare this comprehensive data collection exercise with a snapshot of housing need in a given county at a point in time in 2015, as the Deputy has done. I recognise that we need up-to-date and comprehensive data on housing need on an ongoing basis. To ensure we have such information, the strategy includes a commitment to undertake housing assessments on an annual basis from 2016 onwards.

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