Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While the Deputy and I often disagree, I agree with virtually everything she said. We need to ensure we rebuild a housing sector that can provide social and affordable private housing in a more effective and planned manner and do not leave this task to the vagaries of the market. This applies to Galway and many other towns and cities. It is for this reason that the Government will introduce a new national planning framework in the next few weeks. The purpose of the framework is to plan for 20 years ahead and for an additional 1 million people and to ensure cities such as Galway, Cork, Waterford and Limerick will plan in a sustainable way to accommodate the needs of people who need homes and housing.

While it is true that there is a reliance on the private sector to provide social housing solutions in the absence of publicly owned and built social housing, the Government is changing this position rapidly and dramatically increasing the number of social houses being provided by local authorities and approved housing bodies. Private sector delivery of the homes people need is also being ramped up. The figures for last year bear this out. Just 18 months into the five-year Rebuilding Ireland plan, it is clear from the figures that the plan is working. Last year more than 17,500 new homes commenced construction last year, an increase of 33% on the figure for the previous year, and more than 19,000 homes were connected to the ESB network, meaning that they were either newly built or had not been occupied for the previous two years. In addition, planning permission was granted for more than 18,000 new homes. This figure does not include planning applications made under the new fast-track planning system for large developments. The number of new households that had their housing needs met reached 25,892 last year in terms of social housing demand. These figures are significantly higher than those for 2016, 2015 and 2014.

It will take time to solve the problem. Those who call for instant solutions and the construction of tens of thousands of social houses within six or eight months are not being realistic.

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