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

That is what we are doing. There is a very strong social housing construction component in Housing for All. It is the largest component. In 2022, we will deliver close to 12,000 social homes, the highest number ever, of which 9,000 will be new builds. In addition, since the Government came into office more than 18 months ago we have focused strongly on voids, as has the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. In the past 18 months, 5,500 social homes have been brought back into use. Again, we have put effort into that and we wanted an urgency attached to that. In the current context, we are saying to local authorities that there should be no excuse for houses being left vacant. When people leave homes for different reasons, those houses should be reoccupied very quickly thereafter. There will be no toleration. We are saying to local authorities that they cannot allow social housing stock remain idle. This year, we have provided funding for 1,500 void homes to be remediated and brought back into use. There is a very strong social housing component. In addition, there is cost rental, which will be a significant measure. It will take time to ramp up.

See this speech in context