Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on whether the 2015 to 2017 targets for capital and current funded social housing units under the social housing strategy 2020 are out of date, given that they are based on social housing waiting list applicant numbers from the housing needs assessment of 2013, rather than the numbers of local authority waiting list applicants for 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38546/15]

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Robert Troy is substituting for Deputy Barry Cowen.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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In the light of the unprecedented number of families on social housing waiting lists and the unprecedented number of people who are homeless, I ask for an update on the social provision targets for 2015. How many housing units have been commenced this year? How many housing units have been completed - fully constructed and occupied - so far this year?

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question which essentially relates to the whole social housing strategy, the targets for capital and current funding and the needs-based assessments carried out by the Government in 2013. The target in the 2020 social housing strategy is for 110,000 social housing units to be provided by means of a mixture of direct provision by local authorities and approved housing bodies and indirect provision through the private rental market, mainly utilising the housing assistance payment. This targeted provision will meet the needs of the 89,872 households nationally that were identified in the 2013 summary of social housing assessments as being qualified and in need of social housing support. There is some flexibility for increased demand. Some 46,584 households, or 52% of the those identified in the 2013 assessment, were found to be dependent on rent supplement, which was meant to be a short-term measure. Over time, the housing assistance payment will provide a more suitable solution for those on rent supplement with a long-term housing need.

In its analysis of the 2013 social housing assessments the Housing Agency concluded that 35,000 new social housing units would be required in the following five years. The social housing strategy which provides for the delivery of these units has been supported in successive budgets. Over €1.7 billion in Exchequer and local authority self-funding has been allocated between 2015 and 2016. The 2013 summary of assessments was compiled on foot of a rigorous and deep analysis which involved local authorities contacting individual households to confirm their continued requirement and qualification for social housing support. It involved a comprehensive quality assurance exercise on the data, including the elimination of duplicate households. It is not methodologically sound to compare this comprehensive data collection exercise with a snapshot of housing need in a given county at a point in time in 2015, as the Deputy has done. I recognise that we need up-to-date and comprehensive data on housing need on an ongoing basis. To ensure we have such information, the strategy includes a commitment to undertake housing assessments on an annual basis from 2016 onwards.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State has not answered my question about what has been commenced and completed this year. He has spoken about what is happening in working towards the 2020 social housing strategy which I suggest is based on flawed figures from the 2013 report. It alludes to the presence of 90,000 people on housing waiting lists, but my colleague has discovered on foot of freedom of information requests he has submitted that there has been a 43% increase in the numbers on the lists. I suggest there are some 130,000 people on them. Just two rounds of funding have been announced so far this year and €39 million has been drawn down this year on foot of these two rounds. The Minister of State has suggested the Government is working towards a certain figure or target, but what is happening now? Some 3,000 voids are lying idle and there is a cap of 30,000 on voids. What is going to be done in that regard? There is a situation where-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask the Deputy to put his question as he is over time.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The question remains the same. How many units have been commenced this year? How many will be completed this year through acquisitions, the refurbishment of voids or construction? Perhaps the Minister of State might answer this straightforward question.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I can give a quick and straight answer on voids.

10 o’clock

More than 2,000 voids were turned around by local authorities last year and more than 1,000 will be turned around this year. At a meeting, the County and City Management Association, CCMA, which represents the heads of local authorities, assured the Minister and me that there would be few or no voids in their areas by the middle of next year. They are being provided with funding and we expect them to have those houses turned around efficiently. We have set them a target. They need to deliver.

The Government has been accused of using a flawed methodology in the housing need assessment. The Housing Agency, an independent body, was engaged to conduct a deep, research-based analysis in which direct contact was made with every applicant on the housing list. People's circumstances were assessed and reported accordingly. What the Fianna Fáil Opposition is proposing is a snapshot of housing lists around the country but that is flawed because some people have duplicate applications on different lists and others' circumstances are changing.

Deputy Troy asked a couple of questions. We expect to deliver approximately 7,500 social housing units this year. We have allocated more than €800 million this year across various housing programmes, for example, local authorities, approved housing bodies and public-private partnerships.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I will allow the Minister of State back in later.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Every avenue for delivering housing is being prioritised by the Government. Now, it is a matter of delivering on that. People must step up to the mark.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Everyone must step up to the mark except the Government which states it is the fault of the councils and everyone else. It is actually this Government's fault. For the past four years, it has cut funding to local authorities.

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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This is more of it now.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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This is why they have not been in a position to construct houses and the Minister of State was not in a position to say that any house had been constructed this year. Local authorities have not been given the funding to do so. The Minister of State referred to making funds available for doing up voids but the Government cut that amount by €6 million in the past 12 months. There are 100 voids in Longford in my constituency. Given the process through which the Department makes local authorities go, they do not have the autonomy to work through their voids.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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A question, please.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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They must get the Department's approval at every stage. It is time the Minister of State realised that we have a crisis. Announcement after announcement or the Minister, Deputy Kelly, visiting Mullingar to open houses-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I am sorry, Deputy, but this is Question Time.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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-----that have been occupied for six months is no good. We want turf turned on the ground, houses constructed and voids addressed but none of that is happening.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Is the Deputy saying that we should not have given them the funding? Should we have given them nothing at all?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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This is Question Time. It is not for statements.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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We all agree that shouting, ranting and raving will not resolve the problem for any housing applicant. We need a delivery strategy. When the Minister and I took office last year, our first act was to secure adequate funding in the Department's budget to provide for an ambitious social housing strategy. More than €4 billion across five years will be provided. I have already outlined that more than 7,000 new units will be delivered this year. This figure includes direct builds and direct acquisitions by local authorities-----

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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How many direct builds?

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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-----because they are now being funded to buy houses where value for money can be achieved in areas of high demand. I urge the Deputy to ask his local authority about what it is doing with the funding that is being provided by the Government. I urge all Deputies to do likewise. Funding is not the problem. This is now a question of delivering the strategy.

As public representatives, we must all tackle a strange statistic.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I am sorry but we must move on.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The number of refusals of first offers of housing is too high. It has reached approximately 40% in some local authority areas. We must address this issue. Existing stock is being offered to people but more than 40% of them are refusing it.