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

It is just plain wrong to say current expenditure going into housing assistance and RAS payments is getting nothing back. The payments are getting bigger year on year but they are used to provide accommodation and if we did not have those payments we would be faced with even higher levels of difficulty than we currently face, and which we want to reduce. We would be facing questions on what we were doing to help citizens to access rental accommodation at a more affordable level. As the level of new homes provided by the State increases, which it will, it will provide an alternative to the levels of investment in HAP and RAS, which will fall over time as we find other ways to meet housing needs.

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