Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Some 61 projects are at practical completion stage. They were begun in 2016. The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government as well as the Minister and a Minister of State are dealing with this. They are working hard. There is a housing delivery unit in the Department. They have changed all the processes and expedited the opportunity for local authorities not only to get money but to get back building houses. There is evidence of this in the various stages, including capital appraisal, pre-planning, pre-tender and tender reports. Some 2,687 social homes are at stage one, 1,279 are at stage two, 490 are at stage three and 1,493 are at stage four. This is real progress, given that we started from a position where nothing was happening. It is not a question of provision of money. It is a question of having the processes and the mechanics actually working.

Deputy Howlin raised a point about rapid build and suggested only 22 had been built. By the end of this year, a total of 1,000 rapid-build houses will be finished.

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