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Dáil
‹ Questions on Promised Legislation

Rebuilding Ireland delivery

Summary

Deputy Curran queried the implementation of Rebuilding Ireland and its impact on housing and homelessness. The Taoiseach referred the matter to the Housing Minister, who said updated quarterly delivery figures and a vacant property initiative would be published shortly.

This will my last opportunity to ask the Taoiseach a question. I genuinely wish him well. Unlike others, I have not had the opportunity of working with him - some might say despite the Taoiseach's best efforts. I refer to chapter two of A Programme for a Partnership Government which relates to housing supply and the homelessness issue. This is underpinned by the Rebuilding Ireland programme. When that programme was published, I said that if it was implemented in full, it had the potential to have a significant positive impact. From time to time, we ask questions - I want to be specific about this - and get replies. The problem with the replies is that many of them do not hit the nail on the head. In answer to questions about the ongoing problem - the rate of homelessness is as it was when the report was published - the Taoiseach has often said that it is a supply side issue. The Government has a responsibility to deliver on the supply side by adding new properties. For example, the programme committed to delivering 200 rapid-build units in quarter four of 2016 and 800 such units in 2017. A total of 22 have been delivered to date and 151 are scheduled. This is 173 units out of a potential number of 1,000. In terms of the delivery of new units, this is falling behind. As one of his final acts, the Taoiseach needs not just to highlight it but, along with the Minister, to put down very specific timelines for the new builds so that we can put pressure politically and administratively because we are not moving at the rate which would have been anticipated ten or 11 months ago when that programme was published.

Comment on this
Enda Kenny The Taoiseach Fine Gael

I will ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, who has the detail of this, to respond to the Deputy's query.

Comment on this

Not in detail, please.

Comment on this
Simon Coveney Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Fine Gael

To be helpful to the House, tomorrow or possibly later on this evening, we will publish the updated quarterly report on the delivery of the Rebuilding Ireland plan. We publish where we are on each of the five pillars from homelessness to social housing to increased housing supply to the rent market to vacant properties every quarter. Within the next two weeks, there will be a specific vacant property initiative, which is needed. We have already introduced some initiatives in that area and quite a lot of financial resources but more is needed there. I will happily make myself available in the House to debate the updated situation. A total of 10,074 social units are in the pipeline at the moment. In January, that figure was 8,400. Three months earlier, it was thousands less so we are dramatically ramping up the delivery of social housing and are starting to see that take effect but it takes time to build houses.

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