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

First, I do not agree with the Deputy about rent pressure zones. They are far from perfect but I believe they are working. Some 60% of people in tenancies are now covered by rent pressure zones and, as a result, they are assured their rent will rise by no more than 4% a year. Therefore, the 60% of people who are renting have that assurance, which is a very big assurance, that their rent cannot rise by more than 4% a year. The figures we see from Daft.ieand others are published rents, as the Deputy knows. These are new tenancies and new rents, and they do not take full account of the 60% of people who are covered and protected by the rent pressure zones - the existing tenants. The rent pressure zones were designed to cap rent increases to protect people who had tenancies on their homes, and they are working in that regard. They were never designed for new tenancies and do not apply to them.

In terms of social housing and public housing, part of the Deputy's analysis is correct. Due to the collapse of the banking sector, the collapse of the construction industry and the collapse and disaster in the public finances, we were not in a position to build public housing or social housing, or private housing, for very many years. However, it is possible, when we get the final figures, that in this year, 2017, more houses and homes will have been built in the country than in any year since 2010. Therefore, we are starting to see, from a very low base, a ramping up of construction of both social housing - or public housing, if the Deputy prefers - and private housing. The number of directly built social homes this year will be around 2,000 and that will rise to 3,800 next year. We can add to that those that are not directly built by local authorities, for example, houses brought back into use by renovating voids, long-term leases and purchases from developers. That will bring the number of new social homes available to around 7,000 next year, which is a huge increase from only a few hundred a few years ago.

I am very familiar with Fingal. I share the county with the Deputy and we are both former members of that council. Given my familiarity with it, I know for a fact there have been more than ten social homes provided in Fingal in the past year. How do I know that? It is because I have been in more than ten of them. I know the Deputy boycotts these events. She does not like to come to school openings, job announcements or the opening of new social housing because, if she sees no good, then she can perhaps pretend there is no good. However, these places do exist. An example is Hansfield, where there are 100 new social homes, in Wellview, where I and the Minister, Deputy Murphy, opened about a dozen or so, and also quite a number in Waterville.

The reason the Deputy does not believe they exist, even though they do exist, is because they were not built directly by a local authority; instead, they were acquired from developers, either through direct purchase or through Part V. I can guarantee her that the people who live in those homes, who now have secure social housing, with a council rent, know that these are real homes because they and their families are living in them.

While those houses and people might not count for the Deputy, they do count because they are real properties with real people living in them who now have secure tenancies and pay subsidised council rents.

As regards the proposal in respect of Wellview, we will certainly give consideration to any plan that might help us to provide more housing in the State. The general view of the Government, though, is we want to have mixed developments because they promote social cohesion. If there is public land that could accommodate 1,000 new homes, we would like to see a mix of private housing, affordable housing and also public social housing because that is the best way not just to provide housing but also to build sustainable communities into the future.

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