Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Things are changing but I know they need to continue to change quickly. There are far too many families in emergency accommodation. There are far too many children in emergency accommodation, some of which is not as good as it should be in the context of hotel rooms, this year. I recognise this as a former housing Minister and as a Tánaiste. We are working night and day to change this. That is why this year we will supply social housing solutions to more than 25,000 people and their families. We will continue to accelerate that. We are dramatically ramping up the delivery of social housing. This year we will provide more than 8,000 extra social houses throughout the State through various mechanisms. Next year it will probably be more than 10,000 and the following year it will approach 12,000. That is where we are going. We have a multi-billion euro programme to deliver it. We have also agreed with Fianna Fáil an affordable housing programme to which we have committed €300 million.

There are actions in train. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will soon introduce new legislation to provide further protections for tenants and to empower the RTB even further. We know from the RTB's report this week that the measures we have implemented to date in respect of rent controls are having a positive impact.

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