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

In view of the latitude the Ceann Comhairle has shown to many on the Opposition benches today, perhaps I will take a little bit of time on this.

The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". It takes time to build houses. We have huge demand today, next week and next month for social housing and more housing in the private rental market. That is why tomorrow we will launch the extension of the repair-and-leasing initiative begun in Carlow and Waterford. We will commit tens of millions of euro to that project this year. A total of €25 million will be spent on a purchase-and-renew scheme for local authorities and for approved housing bodies, AHBs. We spent €203 million last year buying over 1,000 vacant properties in order to bring them back into use. That will continue this year. A number of other schemes are envisaged. Within the next month or so, we will launch a vacant properties strategy for Ireland which is designed to bring properties that are not being used back into use and to pay for their repair if necessary. There is a lot happening in that space.

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