Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. As I said earlier, with regard to the occupation of vacant properties, the city and county councils have the powers to use a compulsory purchase order, CPO, on properties. Many councils are doing that and if they are not using a CPO on a particular property, then I assume the council has a reason. Many of the properties being occupied are in the Dublin City Council area. This council is dominated by Sinn Féin and left-wing councillors. The Deputy should ask them to give an explanation as to why these CPOs are not being sought for these properties.

With regard to building social housing, this is exactly what the Government is doing. We have set aside funding to increase Ireland's public housing stock by 110,000 units over the next ten years and by 50,000 in the next five years. Last year we increased the social housing stock by 7,000. That includes direct builds and approved housing bodies such as the Iveagh Trust, which has provided social housing in Ireland for a very long time. It also includes councils buying properties from developers. It is all social housing that belongs to the councils. People are given secure tenancies. There were 7,000 last year and there will be more again this year. We will ramp it up to 10,000 per year and we will provide an additional 110,000 social housing units over the next ten years. That is our guarantee and we are making it happen.

It would be helpful if Sinn Féin and left-wing councillors did not vote down social housing in Dublin City Council and in South Dublin County Council.

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