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

We did consider an extension and a partial extension. On the recommendation of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and with the unanimous agreement of Cabinet, we decided that, on balance, an extension was not the right approach for the reasons I explained earlier. I will not accept the narrative, or the nonsense, that we somehow sat on our hands and did nothing for the past three to six months. I have set out what we have done. Some 5,000 new social homes were built in the past couple of months. A further 600 have been leased and 500 bought while 1,500 voids were returned to use and 650 additional emergency beds were provided. We announced today not only that the moratorium would lapse, but also that we would purchase 1,500 homes from landlords who are selling up where social housing tenants are at risk of becoming homeless.

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