Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for housing. I want to reassert the strong commitment of the Minister and this Government to addressing the housing challenges we face, which are touching every level of our society, as the Senator has outlined. While there is still much more to do, considerable progress has been made to date under Housing for All. Between July 2020 and the end of quarter 2 in 2025, over 50,600 social homes were added to our social housing stock. There is a strong pipeline of social housing. The latest construction status report showed 26,684 social homes at all stages of design and build at the end of June 2025.

Since the launch of Housing for All at the end of quarter 2 of 2025, nearly 16,900 affordable housing units have been delivered by approved housing bodies, local authorities and the Land Development Agency through the home first scheme, cost rental, the tenant in situ scheme and the vacant property refurbishment grant. Therefore, a solid foundation has been laid for future housing delivery which will be driven by the new national housing plan and underpinned by record levels of State investment under the national development plan. The new housing plan will include a range of measures to address homelessness, including the development of a homelessness prevention framework to ensure all possible measures are being taken across government to prevent homelessness. I again thank the Senator for raising this really important issue.