Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have already dealt with the Government's response to the latest daft.iedata on rents. They show that asking rents rose by 13.9% in Dublin over the year to the first quarter of 2017. I pointed out to Deputy Adams and others that the rate of increase in Dublin rent prices between quarter four 2016 and quarter one 2017 was significantly lower than the rate of increase over the year.

Supply is the central problem. We cannot ignore the high and rising level of rent in certain areas of the country. That is why the Government has introduced the rent predictability measure and established the system of rent pressure zones. Money is available to local authorities like never before and incentives have been introduced like never before in terms of dealing with many of those issues. There are 504 housing construction projects around the country. They include Rath na Gloine in Louth; eight houses in Aston Village; ten houses in Clos na Manach, Carlingford; 15 houses in Scarlet Street, Drogheda; 14 houses in Castlecourt, Castlebellingham; 41 houses in Liscorrie, Bog Lane, Drogheda; 22 houses in Coulter Place, Dundalk; 35 houses in Rathmullen Road; 35 houses in another project on Rathmullen Road, Drogheda; 14 houses in Cox's Demesne phase 2a; seven houses in Cox's Demesne phase 2b; seven houses in Tierney Street, Ardee; ten houses in Barrack Street, Dundalk; 11 houses in Clontygora, Dundalk; one house in McArdle Green; 23 houses in phase 2 Boice Court, 20 houses in Boice Court phase 3; 20 houses in Fr. Finn Park phase 2 and so on.

Deputy Adams will know whether the houses are at an advanced stage of construction. The real problem is supply and every effort is being made to deal with it. That is why local authorities have been given money, incentives and opportunity to buy houses, restore vacant units and boarded up houses and there are other incentives to encourage people to bring houses back into habitable use that can be rented for a period, together with opportunities to build social housing directly by local authorities. In a number of cases private enterprise is allowed to build on local authority property. In addition, direct moneys have been put into opening up sites that were heretofore off limits.

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