Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Imagine we are now over eight months after the launch of the Rebuilding Ireland document and the Government still has not completed the mapping of the local authority land banks. That demonstrates the priority afforded by the Government to the funding of social housing provision. It is eight months since the launch and we are in the midst of a housing crisis but the Government still has not completed the list of land banks across the State. It beggars belief.

The Minister of State indicates there are 26 different projects but only six are being done by the local authority. The rest are from public-private partnerships and approved housing bodies. With the six developments, there will be a total of 123 homes over the next two to three years. There are 4,000 people on the housing list and the Government plans to provide 123 homes over the next three to four years. Of those homes, 20 have an unknown date of completion, seven are regeneration projects and 24 come from the acquisition of vacant units. There are three being done up on Bóthar Brugha in Drogheda that are just being renovated. There seems to be no roll-out of a proper Government-funded social housing provision.

Not all the local authority members were impressed by the Minister of State or the delivery he has overseen. The Government still has not finished the report detailing the mapping of council-owned lands. It is essentially saying, right in the midst of a housing crisis, that Louth should be happy enough with 123 houses, with only a certain number being newly built, over the next three to four years. The problem will be compounded further. It is clear as a bell that the Government's entire policy to solve the housing crisis is developer-led and developer-driven. That is just not going to work.

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