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

I did not see all of the programme, but I answered questions on Claire Byrne's show afterwards. I was in Waterford that night, but I appeared from the Waterford studio. The young man, who was homeless and who was finding difficulty getting certainty on getting a bed at night, now has certainty. He has access to emergency accommodation and does not have to do it on a nightly basis. Obviously, we want to work with him to get him a much more permanent solution. Some of the other stories were very difficult for the individuals and families concerned.

I am reminded all the time of my responsibilities as the Minister for housing to try to respond on behalf of the State to the needs of the many families under pressure. That programme was another example of it.

It is also important to recognise that we are improving things. There are many more supports for families in mortgage arrears difficulties. Free financial and legal advice is available as well as a revamped mortgage-to-rent scheme. The supports that are available are much better than before. We are also starting to see houses being built again and in the kind of numbers that are starting to move towards meeting demand. We have gone from 12,500 houses two years ago to just over 15,000 houses last year. There will probably be around 19,000 this year. I think we will be up to our target of 25,000 houses in 2018 or 2019 even though the target was for 2021. The truth is that we probably need to go up to 30,000 to 35,000 housing units a year given our current population growth and pressures. Much of it will be social housing as well as private and affordable housing in the right mix.

We will review the effectiveness of rent pressure zones in the summer. Some 57% of rental properties are now in rent pressure zones. As I stated, there was a lot of scepticism on the Opposition benches when we debated the legislation because people thought it would only apply to Dublin and Cork city. Since then we have seen this expand into many other areas and it will continue to do so. If there are issues in relation to neighbouring areas, which people feel may get designated a rent pressure zone-----

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