Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will refer to a couple of the examples used by the Deputy. He mentioned the paying down of local authority debt. Does he know why they are doing that? There are encumbered sites throughout this country that have not been able to be developed for the social housing the Deputy says he wants because the local authorities have been carrying a very significant debt, some of them for up to two decades. We have used that reallocation to local authorities on the basis that they will deliver and start to build on 38 different sites we have identified throughout the country. These are for much-needed, additional social and, in some instances, affordable homes. We have already engaged with local authorities on that.

There is a reality behind what the Deputy said about not hiding behind cost inflation or issues we have with the supply chain. Will we just forget the fact there was a reality in April, May and June of last year regarding difficulties getting product and material, which have slowed down some projects that will be delivered in 2023 as opposed to 2022, hence the capital carryover? The Government has to live in the real world too. We cannot just wish these things away and that issues do not happen. We have not had a clear picture this year or last year, but in 2022, we will deliver more new-build social homes than we have done in decades. I expect that at the time we announce those figures, the Deputy will be the first to welcome them.

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