Today the Simon Community said it is unacceptable that 198,358 homes lie empty in Ireland, a number that will shock most people. In stark terms, that means that 13% of the total housing stock is vacant. According to answers to parliamentary questions received by my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, the group established to compile a register of vacant units and set out actions to bring them into use is due to report at the end of the first quarter of this year. Work is progressing too slowly on this very important issue. There seems to be a lack of understanding of the urgency of these matters.

As the Minister knows, the previous Government put a record amount of money into housing, which the current Government has been able to increase, but it appears that there is a distinct lack of delivery.

Projects have been announced but little progress seems to be happening on the ground. In November, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, promised work would begin on 350 units of modular housing by the end of 2016, but so far only 22 have been completed and they were all started by the last Government. Instead of building homes, it appears that local authorities are buying properties, which does nothing to increase supply.

Last August, the Labour Party proposed an eight point plan to tackle this specific issue of vacant houses. This morning the Simon Community launched its own ten point plan. Like the Labour Party, it calls for a vacant housing register that would see a real-time database with formal communication and data-sharing structures between relevant bodies. Like the Labour Party, it believes that more needs to be done on the vacant site levy. Sadly, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael combined to vote down a Labour Party Bill that would have achieved that last year. Both my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, have called for more money to be allocated to the Housing Agency's vacant housing purchasing initiative. Will this happen? Will the Government allocate more money now or do we have to wait for the capital review to be completed? Will the Government speed up the audit so that urgently needed accommodation can be provided from vacant units while so many people are in squalid conditions and looking for houses?

I assure the Deputy that the work on a register of vacant units is under way and at an advanced stage and the register will be available within weeks. This will mean that a much better database will be available. As Deputy Howlin noted, the Simon Community has found a very high vacancy rate. This was not unknown to those other than the Simon Community. The vacancy rate is 13% but it is only 6% in Dublin, so the area with the most acute pressure does not have the same high vacancy rate. The Government's programme is very clear and a series of initiatives have been taken, including the buying back of vacant properties by the Housing Agency. A target of 1,600 was set in that regard. Last year the city council brought back into use its 1,000 voids and there is a target of 3,500 for repair and hand over to local authority of HAP leases. Active work is ongoing in this area.

The Deputy raised the wider issue of whether there is enough activity on the ground. I think we are beginning to see it. This week the Minister published 90 schemes where 1,800 social units are under construction and 504 schemes that involve 8,500 social units are now in the pipeline. These will be advanced rapidly under the pressure the Minister is applying. The homeless HAP, which allows for an uplift in the rent supplement and has a target of accommodating an additional 1,200 homeless families, has been very successful. It exceeded its expectation last year and it is hoped it will do so again. The rapid building initiative is continuing. As noted by Deputy Howlin, 350 units are under construction and 650 will be added to the list this year. This is being pushed ahead.

The Minister is responding on every front and continues to be open to new initiatives. The initiatives that have been proposed by the Simon Community will be examined by the Minister to see if there are elements to them that could be implemented.

I am not accusing the Government of not having a strategy. The problem is that we do not see the progress and this is causing alarm. It is as if the Government is pulling rubber levers to no effect. Nothing is happening on the ground. The Minister is right that we did much work to bring back voids and that was a successful initiative, but now we need the same approach to vacant houses. We cannot in good conscience allow a situation to stand where there are 27 vacant homes for every person in emergency accommodation. We need to identify those homes and ask why they are vacant. Can we bring them back? Can we incentivise those who own them or are in possession of them to bring them back? That is the sort of concrete measure that we need. Is the Minister of the view that the strategy is working fine and that everything is on course or do we need to up our game significantly to ensure that the crushing social issue of our time is properly addressed?

The Government firmly believes this issue must be addressed. The housing strategy, which is barely six months old, is a major priority. The Government has provided €5.5 billion in investment for housing and given a commitment to 47,000 social homes in the next five years. A range of initiatives is under way across the housing sector, including those to which the Deputy specifically alluded. The database will ask why houses are vacant to try to identify policy initiatives that could be taken. The Minister has provided an incentive to bring such houses back into use and has set a target of bringing 3,500 of them back into use specifically for social purposes. These proposals are being implemented.

The homeless housing assistance payment has been identified to give a 50% uplift in rent supplement, specifically to bring homeless people into rental accommodation and give them an opportunity to access the payment. This measure is working.

It has nothing to do with supply.

While we would all like more houses to be built, it is encouraging to note that statistics on housing starts show they increased by 50% in 2015. There is clear evidence that the number of planning permissions has increased, as has the number of works commencing on site, both for social and private housing. However, we must accelerate progress in this area. No one in government denies that we have a very serious problem in housing and considerable effort has been focused on delivering action in this area against strict timelines. We are open to other proposals that could be implemented.