Last week on Leaders' Questions I asked the Taoiseach if he agreed that the housing crisis was the most pressing issue in the country right now and to declare a housing emergency. This week I would like to put the same questions to the Labour Party because while the Taoiseach did not declare a housing emergency, people might expect a different response from the Labour Party. I was somewhat concerned when the Minister called it a "problem". This is much more than a problem and it is time for the Labour Party to say there is a homelessness emergency.

Fine Gael has never been a big proponent of social housing or pretended that it cared about working class people, but the Labour Party did and holds the Ministry dealing with homelessness and housing. Today, there are two women in the Gallery who are homeless. I would like the Minister to look up and acknowledge them. Last week, 15 families from Dublin West were homeless. Maybe the Minister's colleague from Dublin West might show some concern as well, if he can get off his phone for a moment. They did not feel that the Taoiseach acknowledged their presence here in any way. I would like the people who have been elected to listen to what such people have to say.

These are just two of the young women caught in the grip of the homelessness tsunami that was spoken about. Unlike a tsunami, this is not a natural disaster. Rather, it is a direct result of the politics of neoliberalism, the slashing of expenditure on social housing by 84% between 2008 and 2013 and the failure of the Government to deal with rocketing rents and repossessions. It is a lethal brew which led to one of the women concerned having nowhere to go until about 5 p.m. last night. She did not know where she would be and whether she could bring her baby son with her, and in the end she could not. She has been told to travel 25 km away from her base where her family is, without any transport, tomorrow. Does the Minister think this is acceptable? Does the Labour Party have any different position on housing from that of Fine Gael? If it does, why is the Government housing strategy so heavily dependent on sweeteners for private landlords and developers?

In his earlier contribution the Minister, when questioned by Fianna Fáil, never mentioned building and houses. He referred to procurements, voids - which are not additional housing - the social housing stock and modular prefabs. He never spoke about building local authority homes. Can the Minister tell us what will be built? This year 20 local authority and 117 housing association houses were built. If that continues, the figure will be 500 for the year. Is this the record and legacy of the Labour Party?

Did the Minister hear the spokesperson from the Simon Community outlining on "Morning Ireland" that the number of houses available for people on rent allowance is at an all-time low? The number of houses available has dropped by 25%. The Minister seems to think that the housing assistance payment, the rental accommodation scheme and all the other schemes based on private ownership of homes will work. The spokesperson said a lot has been done in terms of private housing, but little has been done about social housing. Does the Minister agreed that local authorities need to go back to the business of building houses for people?

I do not agree with very much else the Deputy said, but I do agree with her last point, namely, that local authorities have to return to building houses. That is a critical element of the approach of the Government to addressing and solving the issue rather than just talking about it. In 2015, 7,400 new social housing units are targeted for delivery with a further 8,400 to be delivered through the HAP scheme.

Since the strategy was published by the Minister, as I mentioned earlier, €493 million has been allocated to local authorities and approved housing bodies for the construction - I will use the word "building" which the Deputy asked me to use - and acquisition of more than 3,000 units up to 2017. In addition, we have more than €91 million worth of housing investment across a range of housing schemes to bring vacant social housing units back into productive use, which the Deputy perhaps appears to pooh-pooh but it is clearly an important aspect of what we need to do, namely, to improve housing for people with disabilities, which is critically important, and retrofit homes to improve energy efficiency, which is extremely important in the context of energy poverty. These are practical decisions and approaches that have been taken by the Government.

Approximately 4,000 households are in receipt of the housing assistance payment. It is available in 13 local authority areas-----

Half the target.

-----and more are now being planned.

HAP is a failure throughout the country

The Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 was commenced with effect from 1 September and this revises the earlier arrangements on social and affordable housing to maximise the delivery, building and construction of social housing units.

With regard to financing social housing, we have put in place a significant Exchequer kick-start of €2.2 billion for budget 2015. These are practical decisions made by the Government to resolve this problem. Work is already under way on site selection for a €300 million public private partnership programme to build 1,500 social housing units. Work is progressing on a strategic housing fund, with €400 million of public investment for the acquisition and development of social housing. The social housing proposals clearing house group, which was established under the strategy, is considering investment proposals and has examined approximately 25 to date. We are working on this. We are delivering on this agenda. Yes, it is a serious issue for the Government and is absolutely being addressed in that context. We need to return to the building of social housing by local authorities. That is completely correct but we also need to ensure that, where possible, and I think it is possible, we bring the private sector element and contribution into play also. Action is taking place on all fronts - not just talk but action.

We have had all this talk for four and a half years. It is too late for the families who are suffering. It is four and a half years too late for the Labour Party to turn its attention to this issue. The Minister spoke of a lack of supply. To reiterate the point on house building, 8,794 council houses were built in this country in 1975. I have just told the Minister that this year 500 will be built. How can the Minister talk about the Labour Party taking this seriously? He did not answer the question, which was very clear. Does the Labour Party feel this is an emergency or not? Does it think it is just a problem? Will the Minister please answer this in his summing up?

How many houses will be built using the €37 million allocated for Dublin? Will hotels, modular homes and all of the other emergency accommodation measures be included in this regard or will it just be home building? I can understand how some families might feel modular housing is an alternative for them - and better than being stuck in hotels and travelling miles to school with no proper food or cooking - however, the Minister said modular homes would take four months to complete, while houses could be built in three months. A house does not take much longer than three or four months to build. The key problem is planning. If the Minister really thought it was an emergency, he would be introducing emergency legislation to allow the Government to acquire the land that exists. For example, NAMA has ownership of one third of all the land in Dublin. The Government would be building houses and fast-tracking social and affordable houses rather than relying on modular homes.

Fine Gael obviously does not give a toss about people in social housing, but this is something-----

The Deputy voted against it on Dublin City Council, so she should not tell me-----

Perhaps Deputy Lawlor might not make a show of himself by shouting over what I have to say.

Deputy Coppinger to conclude.

The fact the Labour Party has left this to weeks, potentially, or even months before a general election is a serious error. This is permeating through working-class and even middle-income communities. Many people are stuck paying €1,700 or €1,800 in rent each month. The Labour Party has made a serious error. Will the Minister please answer this: if he believes it is an emergency, what will he do about the actual building of houses?

As the Leas Ceann Comhairle will appreciate, I am very happy at any time to answer for my party, the Labour Party, and I am proud to do so, but I am here representing the Government today and I am responding in that capacity. The Deputy opposite likes to mention my party. If one did a word search on her contribution, one would probably discover she referred to my party approximately ten times. She is completely obsessed with the Labour Party.

She is the only one that is.

I will tell the House the difference between my party and her outfit over there. Instead of actually engaging in ridiculous stunts to get ourselves into court and into the newspapers-----

Outrageous.

-----we take practical steps to address the issues facing the working people about whom she claims to be so concerned. She postures, just like the two people beside her, in the Chamber. They continually posture but social problems are there to be solved and not to be leveraged for political gain.

Hear, hear.

That is what the three Members up at the top do, day in and day out.

That is outrageous. Four and a half years and you have done nothing. We are dealing with the mess you failed to resolve.

They oppose every practical measure. All of the people and NGOs involved in the debate believe modular housing can make a great contribution. What about Deputy Coppinger and her colleagues? Inexplicably, they flew in the face of all the housing and advocacy groups by opposing the immediate roll-out of 115 units of modular housing which are so urgently needed.

Where did that happen?

Where are they?

They talk about an emergency. They went into the chamber of Dublin City Council and voted against it. That is not politics.

Where? That is not true.

That is hypocrisy, absolute hypocrisy. Since they are so obsessed with the Labour Party, I can tell them this - the difference is we see a necessity to solve social problems, we do not believe social problems are, as it were, a godsend for political recruitment.

The Government is creating them.

We see them as something to be solved and that is what we are doing.

Hear, hear.

As cynical a response as we would have expected.

The Tánaiste, Deputy Burton, could not have done better than that. It is an absolute lie and an evasion of the questions as usual. With homeless people sitting in the Gallery, the Minister should be ashamed of himself in not taking this matter seriously.

Somebody who once thought he was a socialist, especially.

No, he never thought he was. He is a posh boy.

Is the Deputy talking to the posh boy beside her?