Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As regards the supply of housing, we are doing absolutely everything we can to increase the supply of housing for people who need it. We are seeing some good results - not enough, but some good results. There were 30,000 new homes built last year, more than in any other year in more than a decade. That does not include student accommodation or vacant or derelict homes being brought back into use. Approximately 8,000 additional social housing units were delivered last year, more than any other year since 1975. No Government in my lifetime has been more committed to social housing than this one. Housing of new forms, such as cost rental, is now becoming a reality for the first time. We have also sourced additional emergency accommodation not just for the 5,000 or 6,000 Irish citizens who need it but also for people who have come from abroad, such as those seeking international protection, homeless people from abroad and people from Ukraine. A huge amount of effort has been put in by the Departments with responsibility for housing and integration to find as much accommodation as possible. That includes refurbishments and modular housing. Within weeks, we will see the first modular homes being occupied. That is a positive too.

In terms of extending the eviction ban, we have not made a decision on that yet as a Government but we will do so shortly. We had hoped the eviction ban would result in a fall in the number of people in emergency accommodation, as was the case during the pandemic, but it did not. The number has continued to rise. That is because there are other factors at play, including things like family breakdown and the fact that the travel-related restrictions that were in place during the pandemic are now gone. It did not have the effect we had hoped it would have. It can and will be argued that if we had not done it, the situation would be even worse. That may well be the case but it is not certain.

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