Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Let us look at the figures for 2019. For 2019, the capital funding the State is making available is €1.1 billion to provide new social housing solutions and directly build homes, and providing €150 million of current funding to do it. The total amount of funding next year going into delivering additional units is €1.25 billion, with most of that in capital funding. In terms of social housing support, the Deputy is correct that it is a high figure for next year of €557 million, the majority of which is going into housing assistance payments.

What is the Deputy proposing that we do as an alternative for 2019? There is a great level of social housing need, of which I have as much experience as Deputy Boyd Barrett given the constituency I represent. While we are building the homes, as we are doing in O'Devaney Gardens and will be doing in Dominick Street, do we not have a responsibility to ensure that accommodation is provided by other means to our citizens who need support in getting homes? That is what we are doing and even for next year, as the Deputy can see on the basis of the figures I have shared with him, we are investing more in building new homes than we are in making use of homes that are already built for our citizens who deserve support.

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