Under Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Housing Agency recently purchased 29 houses in one estate in Cúirt na hAbhainn in Claregalway. This is a very sought-after village with a very high demand for housing. While I acknowledge there is a crisis with people looking for social housing, there is also a crisis with people looking to get on the property ladder. What chance has a young couple to buy a NAMA-owned house when they cannot even get the opportunity to bid on one? Will the Tánaiste give a commitment that some of these houses will be put on the open market so young couples can have an opportunity to bid on them to try to get on the property ladder? It is not right that these houses are bought en bloc. Young couples, who are staying at home with their parents despite having young children, are trying to get into the property market but they cannot do so, given the Housing Agency is coming in and buying up houses en bloc. It is not just in Claregalway and it has happened in Athenry and other places. There must be some route whereby young people can also bid on these houses.

I thank the Deputy for the question. We obviously have a duty of care to the citizens of our country to make sure we are providing for them. That is why Rebuilding Ireland is a €6 billion commitment to bring 50,000 new homes into the social housing stock and, more than that, to use the private rental sector to look after people who are on the housing lists and who need housing supports. It is very important that we do that. It is also very important that we have a mix, whether we are building a new community or regenerating a community, and that includes taking on some of the legacy housing stock from the crisis years which was left empty, the ghost estates and the derelict housing, and bringing them back into use and to do that in a mixed way.

The Housing Agency is doing great work, working with local authorities and other agencies to secure homes for social housing. One of the things I said to local authorities at the first housing summit in September of last year was that where they are acquiring, they should only acquire in low-demand areas because we want them to build more. A 30% increase in building will happen this year because of that direction I gave them. Obviously, as they approach each area in their own communities, they should approach them with that purpose of mix in mind, so we can get a sustainable mix in every area. I will speak to the local authority and the Housing Agency about exactly what is happening in Claregalway and I will come back to the Deputy in due course.