In 2012, to a barrage of heckling and laughter from the Government's side, I warned during Leaders' Questions that tenement conditions were on the way back to Dublin city. Those conditions have now manifested. Today, the Simon Communities-----

Is this on the programme for Government or legislation?

Programme for Government commitments and legislation on dealing with the housing issue. Today, the Simon Communities have confirmed that none of this situation is necessary because Ireland has the housing stock to deal with the tenement conditions and obscene homelessness. The Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, is looking into all of these matters, given his comments on compulsory purchases and using empty properties. On foot of the calls from Simon for emergency legislation, is the Government considering, or will it enact, emergency legislation to address this emergency? The Government stumbles on the words.

Time is up, Deputy.

Deputy Howlin raised this question, but perhaps that was before Deputy Boyd Barrett was present. I outlined some of the initiatives that the Government was taking to bring homes back into use, including supporting properties in being repaired for social housing use, the purchase of unoccupied homes by the Housing Agency and the restoration of voids. A detailed survey of vacant homes is to be available within weeks. It will shed light on the reasons for vacancy, where the vacant homes are and whether they can be targeted to be returned to use. The evidence suggests that the rate could be as much as 25% in some parts of the west, but those homes might not be available in the pressure points in the cities.

There are 55,000 in the cities.

We need to see the proper data, but the Minister has a series of initiatives to address the issue. If there is scope for new initiatives, we will assess the views of the Simon Communities.