Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The intention and work of the Government is to end the dependency on HAP. A total of 16,000 families have transferred from HAP to permanent accommodation solutions. That is to be noted. The Government has built more social houses in the past four and a half years than in the past 50 years. I was a member of a local authority for 16 years. I remember distinctly during that time when a decision was made to move away from the construction of local authority housing and into reliance on the private market. I believe it was a retrograde step. That is why the Government and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, have set about addressing and undoing it. That is an important part of it.

I have the figures for the target builds for 2022 to 2026 for Galway City Council and Galway County Council. It is important that the local authorities show ambition. The funding is there. It is front-loaded and there in budget 2025. The local authority needs to show considerable ambition in the delivery of housing throughout Galway city.

See this speech in context