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

First, we used the pause and the time given through the eviction moratorium to ramp up additional supply. I will give the Deputy some specific figures and while they are approximations, they are close to the verified figures which we will have very soon. In quarter four of last year we delivered about 5,000 new social housing builds. We brought back about 1,500 voids in that period. We have acquired just short of approximately 600 homes, many of them with tenants in situ. We have leased a further 600 homes, particularly focused on those in homelessness or to provide exits for homeless people from emergency accommodation directly into permanent housing. In that period we have also ramped up the capacity in emergency accommodation, particularly in this region, with an additional 500 beds as well as 150 cold-weather beds.

It is important to note that the overall delivery last year, as the Deputy knows, comprised 29,851 homes, which was about 5,000 above the target. This represents a very good start for the first full year of Housing for All because we need to ramp up supply across all tenures. We have approved about 1,000 cost-rental tenancies also. More than 500 of those tenancies are in place, with people now living in safe, secure and affordable rental properties. In the first couple of months of this year, although these figures are provisional, we have built 1,800 new social homes. I will go through some other measures that we will be using to provide additional social homes in quarter one of this year, based on the Government decision on Tuesday, in my supplementary reply.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Darragh O'Brien): First, we have used the pause and the time given through the eviction moratorium to actually ramp up additional supply. I can give the Deputy some specific figures and while they are approximations, they are close to the verified figures which we will have soon. In quarter four last year, we delivered about 5,000 new social housing builds. We brought back about 1,500 voids in that period. We have acquired just short of approximately 600 homes as well, many of them with tenants in situ. We have leased a further 600 homes, particularly focused at those in homelessness or to provide exits for those in emergency accommodation into permanent housing. In that period we have ramped up the capacity in emergency accommodation as well, particularly in this region

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