Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to start by saying some words about Jimmy Magee. It was with great sadness that we all learned today of the death of this iconic sports commentator. His commentaries were legendary and based on a breadth of knowledge of sport that was peerless. He also had an innate sense of timing, which often meant that his descriptions of events became as memorable as the events themselves. He was part of the fabric of Irish sport and lived and breathed sport. He would talk about, reminisce and recall sports events with anyone and everyone. Although his voice may now be silent, the wonderful memories created for us by the Memory Man will live on forever.

To answer the Deputy's question, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government, I very much acknowledge the stress that is being endured by many families and people who are facing homelessness at present who are staying in emergency accommodation. As I have said previously, homelessness is a stain on our society.

When it comes to the larger issue of housing, which, of course, is much broader than homelessness, we are absolutely aware of the need to ensure that more affordable housing is available for people. It has long been the case in Ireland that those in the 20s and 30s can aspire to buy their first home. That is now increasingly difficult, not because house prices are higher than they were ten years ago but because mortgages are more difficult to get and, of course, the availability of new houses and apartment is very much less than it should be. These are issues that the Government is very much attuned to, and issues where we acknowledge that more progress needs to be made in the time ahead.

It is important to point out some of the progress that is being made. Deputy Micheál Martin accurately listed many of the problems. It is important to balance that by mentioning a little about the progress that is being made. For example, today, and indeed every working day, 80 individuals and their families will be housed by the State, that is, there were roughly 19,000 new tenancies last year. We anticipate 21,000 new tenancies this year, which is a significant response to a serious problem. Also, we have had the development of the family hubs, of which the Deputy would be aware. That has allowed us to reduce the number of children and families in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels by almost half in the period gone by. The hubs provide much better and much more appropriate accommodation for families able to do their own laundry and cooking, etc.

We have a plan, which is Rebuilding Ireland. It is working. It is funded to the tune of €5.4 billion over the period of the plan but we acknowledge that more needs to be done. The Deputy will have heard already from the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, some of the additional measures that are taking place. For example, house building itself is ramping up considerably. We expect 2,500 social houses, that is, council houses and apartments, to be built this year. That number will rise to approximately 5,000 next year of which 3,800 will be built directly by local authorities, others will be acquired through Part V and others - long-standing voids - will be brought back into use. We are getting to the point where we are starting to see supply recover but we are very much in catch-up mode, but catch up is what we intend to do.

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