Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is very little evidence of progress in delivering new social housing. The last approval recorded was in January 2016 and many local authorities did not even build one social house last year. The HAP system is proving particularly challenging for many people who are renting, because of the thresholds. There is an over-reliance on that in building new council housing. Our social housing stock is 9% of the total in this country, while across the European Union it is 17%. The execution and delivery of housing policy is sadly lacking and very poor. Modular housing is a very good example of this as only 22 have been delivered so far in Ballymun. It was one and a half or two years ago that the then Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, proclaimed this as a wonderful new initiative. There are some 2,751 vacant council houses at the moment, which is probably lower than it was but, nevertheless, should not be the case. When houses become vacant they should be allocated straightaway, given the emergency people are currently experiencing. Execution and delivery of policy are the key deficits in housing policy.

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