In A Programme for a Partnership Government, there are numerous commitments to address the national housing crisis. The key issue is implementation of these proposals. Notwithstanding that, there are still over 2,000 children in emergency accommodation and 135,000 people on the social housing waiting list. There are media reports today that up to 10,000 homes lie idle in rural towns, up to 3,200 of which are within Dublin's commuter belt which encompasses Kildare and Louth.

The Heritage Council is calling for the living city initiative that is currently confined to parts of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny, Waterford and Galway to be extended. Has the Government any plans to extend this initiative? Are there any additional plans to acquire the large number of empty houses that could be used to deal with the homeless and housing crisis?

The Government, in conjunction with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, published a housing programme which is of an unprecedented scale. It dealt with everything from rough sleepers to homelessness in all its forms, and focused on the supply of houses to deal with the catch-up situation which followed the collapse of the construction sector a number of years ago.

The Minister introduced a scheme for reconstruction and there are opportunities for people who have houses that are not habitable to renovate them, lease them for a five-year period and then reacquire them. There are quite a number of opportunities within the housing programme to deal with stock that is idle or needs to be repaired or properties that are void, because of one reason or another, to be bought by local authorities.

As housing units come on stream and are repaired and made habitable, many people turn them down because they are not close enough to where they are living or not suitable for their needs. This is a problem, but one that is being addressed as one of the pillars of the housing programme.