Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This Government has acknowledged from the very beginning the scale of the challenge we face as a country in housing and the provision of accommodation for our people, whether it is private housing, public housing, cost rental or affordable purchase. We have prioritised investment in housing since coming into office in the summer of 2020. That is delivering results. Do we believe that more needs to be done? Absolutely. The challenge is still immense but it is a challenge we will meet.

The overall target by way of housing output of all forms in the current year is 24,600 in the Housing for All strategy. We are confident that this number will be significantly exceeded. That will be the highest number of new homes built for a very long time in our country. The Deputy raised the specific issue of social housing. The target in the Housing for All plan, by way of total additions to the social housing stock in the current year, is 10,500. That is principally made up of new builds. The point I will make, in answering the Deputy's question directly, which I always seek to do, is that we currently estimate we will build approximately 8,000 new homes but that will be supplemented by purchases and leases of new homes. In our view, that will bring us close to, if not in a position to reach, the overall target of 10,500 social housing additions to the stock in 2022, which is the highest number in this country for a long number of years.

We are tackling the housing challenge using all the levers at our disposal. As a Government, we are partnering with local authorities and approved housing bodies, and getting back to delivering public housing at scale for the first time in a generation. That is the right thing to do. Sinn Féin Deputies are welcoming new developments as they are being opened throughout the country, which they are welcome to do, in addition to turning up at the launches of the Housing for All schemes all over Ireland-----

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