Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have heard much rhetoric from those opposite. It is easy for Deputies to rail against the Government and for them to say that we must produce more social housing. That is obvious. We are all very much in agreement on that matter. We are also agreed that the long-term solution to homelessness is to increase the supply of homes. However, I have not heard any new or tangible solutions to homelessness being offered by those opposite. Nothing has been said over and above the multifaceted approach the Government is already undertaking to address and increase the housing supply and to deal with homelessness. That is the reason the Government's social housing strategy is based on the provision of 35,000 new social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion and, in addition, the delivery of up to 75,000 units of long-term, quality accommodation to meet housing needs through local authority housing supports schemes.

Deputies have been critical of the number of units constructed to date, but that is a lazy critique when we all know the length of time required to bring construction projects to completion.

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