Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will be based on net need, which means people who are in need of a house or whose housing needs are not being met. People on the HAP or RAS schemes or on the transfer list are not included because their housing needs are met but it will include people on rent assistance, which is 45% of the total number on the housing waiting list. It also includes people in other private rented accommodation, or in emergency accommodation. It includes anyone who is in need of a social house and qualifies under income limits.

We do not expect a dramatic drop in the figures but we have analysed the data and we expect a slight reduction. This is not enough for people who want a house but it is a positive trend. The more important trend, however, is that for the delivery of housing which is up as compared to recent years, and rightly so, both for completed houses and starts. We are asking local authorities and all parties to help us in this as we need support at local authority level. There are still far too many vacant properties. We have recommended all the schemes to deal with vacant properties, such as CPO, repair and leaseback and the purchase and renew scheme because they are not being fully utilised at present. It is even worse that somebody is homeless in a county where there are vacant properties.

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