Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The broad thrust of Government policy on social housing is to build social housing. We have taken a suite of initiatives. The bulk of construction next year in terms of the provision of social housing will be through approved housing bodies, AHBs, which have consistently been building social housing on behalf of the State, but also the councils. Direct builds will comprise the large bulk of social housing output, where councils, along with AHBs, commission, provide and allocate housing. The majority of 9,500 units provide last year were constructed.

However, number of other mechanisms will be used. The Minister is clearly of the view that the majority of provision has to be through councils and AHBs, while also getting involved in affordable housing. We have to dramatically increase the number of social housing units we make available through direct build, Part V and other mechanisms. In many respects, that will remain our emphasis and focus.

We will pursue a number of avenues. We will continue to review them, in particular the cost-benefit analysis, what is most advantageous from the taxpayers' perspective and what provides long-term value for money. We need more activity in the marketplace and more social housing provision than we have had over the past number of years. That is what the Government is committed to doing through a number of schemes and mechanisms.

In the initial period, leasing has been one of those options to create quick access to properties, in particular in addressing homelessness during the Covid phase. We believe that there is an opportunity in the context of Covid to get the homelessness figures down and have more permanent provision of housing, in particular for single people who are homeless, which is a significant proportion of those who are homeless.

Social housing will predominantly involve councils and AHBs commissioning the building of local authority and social housing. That is the broad thrust of policy.

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