Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government acknowledges the affordability pressures faced by households with low to moderate incomes in particular parts of the country. It is precisely for that reason that Rebuilding Ireland has prioritised the supply of new homes to meet current and pent-up demand as well as helping to moderate house prices and rents. For households in the lowest income brackets, I am prioritising the social housing programme, with an additional capital allocation of €500 million over and above the €5.35 billion already committed under Rebuilding Ireland, to increase the overall delivery to 50,000 social housing homes by 2021. These households can also avail of other supports such as the housing assistance payment scheme.

The Government has also put in place a range of measures to make housing more affordable. These include planning reforms, infrastructure funding to get key sites moving, the introduction of rent pressure zones, and mixed-tenure housing projects on publicly-owned land with two major sites in Dublin, encompassing some 1,500 new homes, progressing through procurement.

Based on all relevant indicators, it is clear that the supply-based measures are having a positive impact. Notwithstanding this, further measures are being developed, including with regard to apartment development viability. I am also considering the wider issue of housing affordability as part of the targeted review of Rebuilding Ireland,including the deployment of the funding of €25 million announced in budget 2018 to unlock local authority-owned lands specifically for affordable housing. I expect to be making a further announcement on this shortly.

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