Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First of all, there has been record numbers of social housing provided in the last two years because of Government capital allocation and funding. As I said earlier, approximately 30,000 social homes have been delivered since we came to office and a further 22,000 are at design, tender or delivery stage. Therefore, there has been very substantial provision on the social housing front. Indeed, 2,500 tenant in situpurchases are in train as we speak, which prevents homelessness. Substantial numbers of people have been prevented from becoming homeless in the first place because of initiatives we have taken. Then the focus has been on reducing the amount of time people are in emergency accommodation, which is important. It is not just about the overall volume, which is too high, but it is also about making sure we prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place and getting them out then as quickly as we can.

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