John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Without being unkind, the Minister of State has missed the targets for the rapid build programme by a mile. Rebuilding Ireland is 18 months old. It clearly indicated that by the end of 2016 there would be delivery of 200 units, with a further 800 units in 2017. By the end of last year we would have expected approximately 1,000 units. The action plan status report indicates there were approximately 200 units built in total, so we missed by a mile.

The Minister of State has indicated in reply that various things have been done but the problem is not enough has been done. Looking at the predictions from the action plan status report, there is only indication of another 500 units this year. The delivery that the programme should be making is not coming about. We as ordinary Members of this House do not understand where the real blockages are. We should remember that this was the first action in Rebuilding Ireland and it was aimed specifically at people who are homeless and in hotel accommodation. The Minister of State is wondering why figures are going up. If the Government delivered its own targets, there would be 800 more units for accommodation. The number of people we refer to homeless accommodation would be reduced significantly. The Government is missing the target and failing to explain to us why. It is not making up the time in 2018 lost in the previous 18 months.

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