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

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of housing because it gives me an opportunity to share with the House factual data. I refer to the figures published this morning by the CSO showing how housing policy on increasing supply, which is at the core of this problem, is working. The number of new homes becoming available for use in the 12 months to the end of March 2019 was 22,242. This is a 19% increase on the figure for the 12 months ending March 2018. Of these new homes available for use, the number of brand new dwelling completions added to the housing stock in the year to the end of March was 18,828, up 25% on the year ending March 2018. Looking at other trends and indicators, planning permissions, for example, show an increase of 41% on the full year 2017, while commencement notices increased by 32% and registrations by 19% in the same period. Regardless of Sinn Féin's assessment, the CSO figures do not lie. We are accelerating the delivery of housing supply across the country, in particular in the areas where it is needed. The figures are not yet where they need to be. I know that, as does everyone in this House. It is true that we need to be building probably 35,000 housing units a year to meet increasing demand and an increasing population.

Because of a lack of supply, which is a decade-long problem, there are pressures on the rental market which are not normal. This is why we have extended the use of rent pressure zones, RPZs, with the support of Sinn Féin, through recent amendments, and rightly so. We have changed the way in which we calculate the thresholds for qualification as a rent pressure zone, again with the support of Sinn Féin, because that is the right thing to do. We have also increased the protections for tenants in respect of timelines, notice periods and so on. These are all market intervention measures that recognise that there is a problem in that elements of the market are broken and the State needs to intervene to protect tenants. Intervention is taking place, but the core of Rebuilding Ireland, which is a five-year housing strategy that is not even three years in yet, is to increase dramatically the supply of all kinds of housing, including social housing funded directly by the State and affordable housing schemes, supporting and reorientating a rental market in order that we do not have to make these kinds of fixes in the future and driving supply across all levels. We are now starting to see that the numbers are showing that this is working.

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