Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I never called for the Government to acquire fewer units for local authorities. What I wanted it to do was to continue to acquire and to increase building. I keep coming back to the report of the Committee on Housing and Homelessness because that cross-party report set out the minimum that this House believed the Government needed to do to tackle the social housing crisis. Again, we talked about increasing the stock of real social houses owned by local authorities and approved housing bodies by a minimum of 10,000 units per year for five years.

Last year just over 6,000 were produced and it will be less than that this year. There is no confusion; it is very clear. The number of real units delivered this year will be less than last year. I accept the number of leased units, housing assistance payment, HAP, units and rental accommodation scheme, RAS, units will be higher but that is part of the problem. There is an increasing over-reliance with up to 78% of leased or subsidised private rental accommodation rather than doing what the all-party Oireachtas committee recommended, which was to deliver an increase of real units. The Government is not even coming close to the target we set at that time.

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