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

Excuse me, do not interrupt me.

On 5 July, I wrote to every chief executive across the country stating the targets set for them were the floor, not the ceiling. We exceeded our target last year. I expect us to do that again this year. The Deputy raised this last year as well. He said there were arbitrary targets and ceilings set regarding tenants in situ. There are not.

It is a very good preventative measure. Actually, if quarter 1 of 2023 is compared to the same quarter of this year, adult exits from emergency accommodation are up by over 17% and adult preventions are up by over 57%. Most people will understand that while we are doing that, we need to increase housing stock. That is what we have done since this Government has come in. There are 115,000 new homes, with social housing new builds at a rate that we have not seen for 50 years. We will increase that further again this year. It remains our number one priority. It is a challenge.

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