Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Many people are looking for housing. The Deputy mentioned people on the list, but there are many people who are looking to try to buy their own homes. We have to try to cater for everybody and not just for one segment, which seems to be the only segment the Deputy represents. My job is to get more houses built for everybody, including people on social housing lists, people who are homeless, young couples who want to buy their own homes and people who want to get into secure rental accommodation. That is a broad mix. This is not about solving one problem. If we solve one problem without solving the others, we create more and more pressure, which drives more people onto housing lists. I will explain what we are trying to do here. First of all, these are decisions for local authorities to make. The proposals come from the local authorities first and foremost. We have given a commitment to increase the number of social houses nationally by 47,000 in five years. We do not want all of them to be concentrated into social housing-only estates. The Deputy wants large estates of 500 or 600 social houses with nothing else, but I do not think that is the way to develop diverse communities in which issues like social disadvantage and opportunity can be addressed for people. We will have multiple sites with lots of social housing delivery. They will be integrated sites with private sector and affordable housing delivery. I think that is the right way to do it. I commend the council for that.

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