Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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28. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of social houses that will be delivered in 2020; the extent to which the pandemic has impacted these figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17660/20]

Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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115. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide projections for social housing delivery to be undertaken by his Department, local authorities or both for 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17505/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 115 together.

The Programme for Government commits to delivering 50,000 social homes with a greater emphasis now on new build activity. The pre-existing overall target set for 2020 was to provide social housing support to over 27,000 households including 11,000 through built, bought or leased social homes.

Despite the challenges faced through the COVID-19 pandemic it is very important that we find ways to deliver the overall target this year. To this end, I have convened a Group of delivery partners to fully understand the current anticipated output and to find innovative and efficient ways to optimise delivery this year. The Group met for the first time on 13 July and will meet again on 27 July.

As an immediate step, I have issued a "Call for Housing" seeking homes that may be available for social housing. I have also written to all local authority Chief Executives instructing them to maximise such opportunities, while continuing to focus on all areas of output they control.

While 2020 is an immediate priority, we will be working hard, with our delivery partners, to incorporate the ambitious goals and initiatives of the Programme for Government into our targets for 2021 and beyond.