Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Listening again to the points about targets, the Minister acknowledged there has been under-delivery for years. The reality is that no matter what targets are set and what figures the Government gives, the experience of people who approach my office and the offices of other Members every day is that they simply cannot find homes, particularly people seeking help to find a social home. It is heartbreaking to tell them their position on the social housing list and to tell them about the lack of capacity in the system to deliver their housing needs.

I want to come back to HAP again because the reality is that many of those on HAP should be provided with social housing instead, and I think there is cross-party agreement on that. When we look at the figures that were paid out on HAP even last year, they are staggering figures that should instead be put into the delivery of social and affordable homes. Many of those on HAP are competing with other renters in the private sector in trying to find somewhere to rent and, in the meantime, HAP is subsidising private landlords. There is a lack of logic to the current system, with huge amounts of money being spent yet a failure to deliver the homes that people need.

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