One of the main tasks of this Government is the provision of housing. However, one action taken by the Department and the local authorities is the purchase of second-hand houses around our county. This means the local authority is in direct competition with people who wish to purchase a house for themselves. The local authorities and the Department should be building houses for social housing rather than competing with private individuals who are doing their best to purchase a house and put a roof over their heads. Those people are up against competition from the local authorities.

Moreover, there are no loans available from local authorities to renovate a second-hand house. There are no loans of €50,000 or €60,000, the kind of figure that would put a roof over people's heads. I ask the Taoiseach to look at those issues because they affect a lot of people.

Is a loan for the refurbishment of second-hand houses proposed?

There is a scheme.

Rebuilding Ireland.

I may ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to come back with more details, but there is a scheme whereby someone can get a loan to renovate a house and then rent it out to the local authority for social housing. I forget the name of it.

That is different.

That is an urban house.

On the other point, it is open to local authorities to purchase homes for social housing. In some parts of the country it is considerably less expensive for the local authority to buy a home than to build it. In general, however, I agree with the Deputy. We would prefer to see local authorities building houses from scratch or buying them from developers than bidding for second-hand homes, often against people who are trying to buy them for themselves.