On my behalf and that of my party, we wish the Tánaiste and his family well in the future.

Last week, the Government launched a plan whose aim was to end homelessness by 2016. It is a very laudable plan that every Member of this House wants to see succeed. We will work with the Government in trying to achieve that goal. In recent months many councils in the State have faced an increase in the number of people presenting as homeless. Part of the reason for this is down to Government policy on rent supplement. As rents increase, particularly in urban areas, the cap on rent allowance means that many families can no longer afford the home they are renting privately. Therefore, they are being forced out on to the streets and presenting to local authorities as homeless.

The capital funding being provided to local authorities over the past three years has decreased under the stewardship of the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. There was a 23% decrease in 2012, a similar decrease in funding for capital projects in 2013 and a 5% decrease in funding this year. These are all contributing to the problem of many people now facing homelessness. Under this Government, the Minister, Deputy Burton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, the housing crisis has got worse.

One of the solutions to that is for the Minister, Deputy Burton, to instruct local community welfare officers that a family at risk of being made homeless should be given permission to breach the rent supplement caps. I ask the Tánaiste, as leader of the Labour Party and as a member of the Government, to ensure that directive is given to local community welfare officers. Where a family in danger of being put on the streets because they can no longer afford their private rented accommodation, welfare officers should be allowed to breach the rent supplement caps.

I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks.

I agree we have a serious housing problem that has to be addressed. I acknowledge Sinn Féin's support for the strategy that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, announced to end homelessness by 2016. That is an objective that should be pursued by Government, by agencies working with homeless people and by local authorities. It is clear, particularly following last Friday's elections, that this responsibility is now shared more widely politically, particularly regarding the governance of various local authorities. I hope that over the coming weeks political parties, which have been successful and in many cases have become the largest party in local authorities and will be part of governing arrangements in local authorities, will ensure that the agreements they make with other parties for the running of local authorities for the next five years will commit to ensuring that sites are made available and plans are drawn up for the provision of social housing to ensure that people's housing needs are met.

The Government will have to give them the money.

As far as the provision of local authority housing is concerned, the Minister, Deputy Howlin, has announced two additional stimulus packages which provide for an additional €100 million for social housing. I can go through the detail of that if the Deputy wishes.

The Deputy specifically raised an issue with the rent supplement. As he knows, rents are increasing, partly owing to the supply situation. The answer to that is not simply to raise the rent supplement every time there is an adjustment in rent because doing that leads to a never-ending problem with rents continuing to increase. We know from previous experience that as the rent supplement increases the rents increase to meet it.

The Minister for Social Protection has already provided arrangements for flexibility in the application of rent supplement, particularly where people are at risk of losing their home. It is my understanding that arrangements are already being put in place to allow for flexibility to be exercised by community welfare officers in the application of rent supplement.

That arrangement is not trickling down to local community welfare officers, as I am sure any Member of the House can confirm to the Tánaiste. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of people in the depths of despair are presenting to my constituency office because they are being forced out of their private rented accommodation. I agree that raising rent supplement caps does not represent a long-term solution. The long-term solution is for the State to provide local authority housing to those who are unable to purchase their own homes. That cannot be done if the Government continues to cut capital budgets to local authorities. It cannot be done if the Government refuses to give local authorities the necessary funding to refurbish the thousands of homes that lie idle and which should generate income for local authorities.

The local property tax is coming in for them. What way does the Deputy want it?

That is the solution. Raising the rent supplement limits is a temporary solution, but it is crucial for the type of people who present at my constituency office and have a demand from a landlord to vacate a property because he is increasing the rent which he knows he could get from another tenant. The reality is that we have a housing crisis and €100 million or €50 million from the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan will not solve it. It will be solved by proper funding to local authorities to provide the necessary accommodation for people who need it.

I will ask the Minister for Social Protection to address the issue of the trickling down of information regarding the exercise of flexibility, particularly where people are at risk of losing their homes. We need to address the problem of people at risk of losing their home because of increased rents that the rent supplement will not meet. I know that the Minister for Social Protection is addressing that and I will ask her to ensure that the information trickles down.

On the capital provision, the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, has already announced additional money to ensure that approximately 1,700 boarded-up houses that could be renewed are refurbished and put back into use as quickly as possible. Additional money has been provided for the resumption of a social housing construction programme.

Some €20 million.

Let us get real here. This is not just a matter of the money being provided by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. It is also a matter of local authorities agreeing where those houses are going and identifying sites where social housing can be built.

That has already been done.

It certainly has been done on the north side.

Fantasy funding.

Those proposals must then be brought to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

There are plenty of sites in Dún Laoghaire.

I look forward to those who spent the past number of years picketing and holding protests against the building of social housing in different parts of the country facing up in their newly held positions as members of local authorities-----

Give us the funding at local authority level and we will do the job.

-----to their responsibilities and stating where local authority housing is going to be built.

Fine Gael people were involved in that.

They should state that they want to build 100 houses on one site and a development of council houses on another site.

What about the proposal to build 500 houses on the site of the former open prison at Shanganagh Castle in Shankill?

I look forward to seeing members of local authorities who have consistently objected to proposals relating to the building of social housing bringing forward their own proposals in respect of such housing. The latter will then be addressed by the Minister of State with responsibility for housing.

The Tánaiste is blaming local authority members rather than the Government of which he is a member. He has learned nothing.

Those opposite will have to make the decisions now. They may even decide to build a flood barrier.

I call Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan and request that there be order for those asking questions and for the person replying to them.