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

On the private side though, it is important to note that planning permission was given last year for 20,000 new homes to be built in the State, a 27% increase on the previous year.

We do have an affordable housing scheme. Local authorities have identified land and finance for 4,000 affordable homes under the affordable purchase scheme. Our ambition is for 10,000 homes. We are not taking the responsibility for building houses away from local authorities. That said, we are bringing in a new land regeneration and development agency to better co-ordinate the use of State and semi-State land for the building of homes and we are, of course, looking at situations outside of Dublin and Cork when it comes to the increasing number of people who are in homelessness. I have met the European Investment Bank on a cost-rental proposal for Dublin city, which I hope to announce in the coming months, that will involve a dramatic increase in the provision of cost-rental model in this country if it is successful.

We have the rent pressure zones in place. When we look at the quarterly data from last year with one year of their existence in Dublin, we see that rent increases in Dublin have dramatically slowed down. There are particular qualifying criteria for other local authorities to come in to the rent pressure zones-----

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