I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. He is correct to say that for 20 to 30 years the policy has been to discontinue the provision of housing within the Defence Forces. I want to be very clear on this. The Deputy will have received responses to parliamentary questions from me. The Deputy, Senator O'Louglin, Deputy Howlin and others have been in touch and written in on this. I have a meeting with the officials next week on the issue. As far as I am concerned, the policy of discontinuing the use of existing housing is over. We are in the midst of a housing crisis. It is not tenable that a policy would continue to exit this area or to allow houses to fall into dilapidation. I received a file recently asking for permission to demolish ten houses. I said "No". We are in the midst of a housing crisis and I do not intend to demolish ten houses. That is why the meeting is happening. I am very clear on the policy. As far as I am concerned, any existing housing within Defence Forces property will now be used for housing purposes.

The precise allocation is a matter that I am going to allow for further discussion and engagement on, because we do have social housing lists as well. I have spoken to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who has offered assistance on this financially. In other words, we can work in partnership with local authorities in terms of the funding of this. In any event, it is not huge money in the context of the bigger €4 billion Housing for All fund that we are spending on an annual basis. There are not huge numbers involved, as the Deputy has said. There are 62 houses in the Curragh, but the utilities and the services are in place already. There is also planning permission already, to a large extent. I cannot, in conscience, countenance a situation where we would either demolish or exit from good quality housing that is potentially refurbishable and that we can put back into use. We have an accommodation crisis and a housing crisis. We made it clear when we developed Housing for All, that every Government Department and agency has to get it that they all have a role to play in housing. It is not just a matter for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Government has made it clear that this is a matter for every Department and for every agency, and they must all contribute, no matter how small or incremental that contribution might be, to the resolution of the housing situation so that younger people get a chance to get a house.

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