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

At each point in the year, we try to ensure that we are able to provide the right level of funding for HAP. The reason we have HAP in the first place is to ensure that, while we continue our work on rebuilding homes and building new ones, the citizens who are waiting for that housing to become available have homes and access to accommodation. That is why we are using this funding. Were we not making use of that kind of funding to ensure that people had access to accommodation, the Deputy would be criticising us for that as well. He would say that we were not doing enough to support people while we were building new homes.

The Deputy made a point about our investment in the delivery of new homes, particularly within local authorities. This year, we are involved in spending €742 million on building new homes. In 2017, that figure was €334 million. We are investing more in building new homes. While they are being built by local authorities and AHBs, we are using funding to ensure that people have access to accommodation.

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