Eoin Ó Broin
Question:55. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the delivery of affordable homes in 2024. [24566/24]
View answerHousing Provision
Questions (55)
Oral answers (30 contributions)
The delivery of affordable homes to purchase and rent have been two of the most spectacular failures of the Minister's tenure. Last year, he missed his affordable housing targets by more than 60% and the year before by 50%. Increasingly, the homes he is delivering through the affordable purchase and cost-rental schemes are not affordable. Can the Minister give us an update on targets for this year for those two schemes, the progress with those targets and an indication of whether he will meet those targets by year's end?
I thank Deputy Ó Broin. Affordable housing delivery for people to purchase and rent is an absolute priority of mine and of this Government. We are making real progress there. As the Deputy knows, Housing for All sets out a range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing output across the board but also, really importantly, sets forward a roadmap and plan to deliver 54,000 affordable homes by local authorities, approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and through the first home scheme, which is a groundbreaking scheme we brought forward. That is a strategic partnership between the State and the retail banks.
Through the implementation of Housing for All and the injection of record levels of investment with more than €5 billion available this year for the delivery of social and affordable housing in 2024, which is the highest level of housing investment in the history of the State, we are ramping up the social and affordable housing supply.
In 2023, more than 4,000 affordable housing supports have been delivered via our delivery partners, an output which has more than doubled from the previous year. It represents an increase of nearly 130% on 2022 activity. That highlights really significant progress to date. It is slightly below target but when this Government came in, there were no affordable homes being delivered. There had been none delivered for effectively a generation. Last year, there were more than 4,000.
As the Deputy knows, data for affordable housing delivery is published on my Department's website up to quarter 4 of 2023. It is currently being verified for quarter 1, which I expect my Department will be in a position to report on shortly. We have a securely laid foundation that will allow us to continue to ramp up the delivery this year and into next as the pipeline of affordable housing delivery is very strong.
In addition, I have asked my Department to prepare a revised affordable housing strategy to take account of the new housing targets later this year and bring forward additional affordable delivery as quickly as possible.
The figure of 4,000 affordable housing supports is deeply disingenuous because it gives the impression that last year, 4,000 households moved into 4,000 affordable homes. Of course, the Minister knows that is not true because of that 4,000, 2,000 are approvals of the first home scheme, and only about 1,000 of those resulted in purchases-----
Not correct.
-----and none of those homes are affordable. When we actually look at the schemes the Minister directly controls, that is, the delivery of cost rental by approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency and affordable purchase homes by local authorities, it was about 1,500. That is the number the Minister delivered and increasingly, many of those are not affordable.
I have to hand a brochure from North County Homes. The Minister will know it well; it is from his own constituency. That lists all the so-called affordable purchase homes by Fingal County Council. However, when we look at the cost of these homes, both entry-level prices and full cost, they are eye-watering. Almost every single one of them is over €400,000 and some are over €500,000. Will the Minister address the question specifically with respect to the two schemes I asked about and the lack of affordability within those two schemes?
The facts are borne out by looking at the first-time buyer activity. We have more than 500 first-time buyers per week now drawing down mortgages and buying their homes using the very supports we have brought forward, namely, the first home and help-to-buy schemes, which the Deputy opposes and would scrap. He has put nothing forward that would replace them, only some loose leasehold arrangement that is sorely lacking in any detail.
I will give the Deputy a couple of examples. On affordable housing delivery through our local authorities, 4,135 purchase and cost-rental homes were approved over 21 local authorities through the fund we set up. With regard to the first home scheme, over 4,000 approvals were issued with the majority of them in areas where there are affordability challenges, such as counties Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. We have actually had to approve a further €40 million, which will be matched by the retail banks, because the first home scheme is going from strength to strength.
I have met and meet people regularly who have bought their homes using those supports. These are people who were stuck in a rental trap or who were in the box room who now own their own homes because the Government supports are working. We want to ramp them up further.
Talking about approvals of homes that in many cases will not be built for one, two or three years ignores the point. The Minister promised to deliver in 2022 just over 2,000 genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy. He delivered half that number. Last year, he promised approximately 3,500 affordable homes to rent or buy. He missed his target by 60%. We might look at the prices from the Land Development Agency in my own constituency in Citywest. Entry-level rents for a one-bedroom unit cost €1,400 and for a three-bedroom unit, it is almost €1,800. That is more expensive than existing market rents for renters in that area.
No, it is not.
In Lusk, in the Minister's own constituency, the all-in cost for so-called affordable homes funded through his scheme is €565,000. My question is very simple. There are two schemes the Minister put in place and promised delivery of and on which he is failing. What are those two schemes going to deliver this year? What are the targets? What is the estimated delivery? Are they going to be genuinely affordable?
First, Deputy Ó Broin is again trying to play with the facts that the all-in cost, as he said, includes the State subvention.
It does.
Sinn Féin has not published its housing plan. The Deputy said he will effectively-----
They cost €500,000.
A Chathaoirligh Gníomhaigh-----
That is the all-in cost. The Minister just accepted it.
This might be for the Deputy's Facebook or Twitter video. He might let me answer the question.
It is for the people who are looking for the affordable homes the Minister promised.
I project that we will deliver more than 6,000 affordable homes this year between all our various delivery streams. The Deputy wants to contend that is not progress from three years ago when there were zero, and then the number went up to 1,757 and to more than 4,00 last year. I am projecting that we will do more than 6,000 this year. They are 6,000-----
Therefore, the Minister will meet his targets this year.
There are 6,000 families and 6,000 homeowners-----
He will meet his targets this year is what the Minister is saying.
Le do thoil, Deputy.
-----because this Government supports home ownership. I support home ownership; the Deputy does not. It is very clear because all of the measures-----
That is simply not true. Home ownership is falling.
He wants the help-to-buy grant of €30,000 abolished and taken away from them.
Home ownership is falling and house prices are rising.
He wants the first home scheme and vacancy grant abolished. There has been no housing plan whatsoever from Deputy Ó Broin, only some leasehold arrangements where people do not actually even own the land on which they buy their homes, or they are going to have to restrict to whom they sell the home.
Home ownership is falling and house prices are rising.
There will be over 6,000 this year. It is real progress, Deputy Ó Broin.
Home ownership is falling and house prices are rising. That is the Minister's legacy.
Legislative Reviews
Questions (56)
Ivana Bacik
Question:56. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on his engagement with the Minister for Justice in respect of the need to update the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011; and if he is satisfied that the redress scheme for construction defects is practicable in view of the lack of a review so far. [24572/24]
View answerOral answers (6 contributions)
The question is to ask the Minister for housing if he will report on his engagement with the Minister for Justice in respect of the need to update the Multi-Unit Developments, MUDs, Act 2011 and if he is satisfied that the redress scheme for construction defects is practicable in view of the lack of a review so far.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to conduct a review of the MUDs Act 2011 to ensure that it is fit for purpose and that it acts in the best interests of residents. Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland, provides for regulations to be made under the MUDs Act relating to the management by owner management companies, OMCs, of annual service charges and expenditure of a non-recurring nature incurred by OMCs.
My Department continues to engage constructively with the Department of Justice in relation to the review of the MUDs Act and the making of new regulations. Draft regulations are being finalised and a policy paper is being prepared to guide the review and finalisation of the draft regulations for approval and signature by the Minister for Justice. Engagement between our Departments is ongoing to ensure full and shared appreciation of the key problems and issues requiring to be addressed in this sector, and the relevant overall policy responses by the Government.
The way in which the current interim and future statutory redress schemes for construction defects in apartments and duplexes have been and are being designed takes account of the evolving nature of the MUD sector and of the challenges being faced by OMCs. For that reason I am satisfied that the schemes are and will continue to be practicable within the provisions of the MUDs Act 2011.
I thank the Minister of State. I am somewhat disappointed the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, did not respond directly on this question given the importance of this issue and the fact that I have engaged directly with him on the issue of the redress schemes.
I am glad to hear that the regulations are being prepared. Can the Minister of State provide a timeline for their approval and can he clarify whether there will be any primary legislation used to make an amendment or is this to be done through regulation?
I should say in respect of the redress scheme there are key issues that the Construction Defects Alliance has raised on retrospection around when the reimbursement process will commence as there are tens of thousands of people who expect to be paid back in the coming months. Will the moneys go to the owner management companies for distribution or will they go directly to owners themselves? There are a number of questions that need to be answered on the retrospection side.
On insurance, many insurers are currently insisting that OMCs commit to getting all fire safety works completed within a year or they will withdraw cover. This is untenable. A Minister - I am not sure which - has met the insurance sector but has the sector signed up to supporting the Government's approach rather than undermining it?
I will come back on the issue of OMC regulation further in the follow-up.
I thank the Deputy. As I said in my opening statement, the Minister for Justice has responsibility for the MUDs Act. While our Department is the policy holder, we continue to work in relation to the remediation of structural defects in MUDs.
The Department is currently engaging with the Department of Justice in respect of the review. As regards the draft regulations, my Department received draft regulations proposed by the Housing Agency, which is the State body under the aegis of our Department. A policy paper, as I said, is being advanced by the Department to guide the review and finalisation of the draft regulations.
Also, there are five pathfinder projects currently in process. There will be, in answer to the Deputy's question, a retrospective position in relation to this. We are working with the Construction Defects Alliance in that regard. The apartment and defect scheme has been designed and will proceed separately to the application for the MUDs Act. I would also say while the role of the OMC is in applying for the apartment and duplex defects scheme, the discharging of the grant is important in the overall evolvement of the process to contain due to the multistage nature of this scheme.
I thank the Minister of State for the greater clarity on timelines.
To return to the point around regulation of owner management companies, we are all conscious that these companies are taking on immense roles. Many of them are volunteer-led and they are simply lacking, in many cases, in the necessary supports and guidance. They are lacking a regulator. That is why we have seen the Construction Defects Alliance, the Apartment Owners Network, the Not Our Fault campaign and others coming together to seek reform of the MUD Act to ensure better regulation and better supports are provided for owner management companies. I am looking at Ms Odette Doran's quote from the Not Our Fault campaign where, around the owner management companies, she states:
We are ... looking for the introduction of a regulator ... as there is no manual or guide for directors to turn to. These are ordinary people stepping up trying to do the best they can for the development they live in and being asked to make big decisions ... [and] We need a regulator ... as heading into this remediation project there are up to 100,000 homeowners, at an estimated cost of 2.5 billion.
It has long been acknowledged that there is a need for greater support, greater guidance and a regulator to cover owner management companies which are doing the best they can in many cases but are faced with a huge task.
As I said in my earlier contribution, the MUDs Act is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice. While I accept the points the Deputy has raised, there are proposed updates to ensure that the annual service charges set by OMCs meet the cost of ongoing maintenance, around the provision of transparency in relation to the setting and payment of annual service charges and around assisting owner management companies to receive timely payment of annual service charges.
While our Department is the policy developer in this regard, the Housing Agency provides information and guidance relevant to residents and OMCs in dealing with their obligations and rights under the MUDs Act. Our Department is working extensively around the information and resources, including publications on guidance and answers to frequently asked questions in this regard. They will continue to do that and update the Housing Agency's website on an ongoing basis in this regard.
Departmental Reports
Questions (57)
Eoin Ó Broin
Question:57. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a response to the report of the Housing Commission. [24567/24]
View answerOral answers (10 contributions)
Last week the Minister was forced to publish the report of the Housing Commission following leaks to RTÉ. Of course, it is no surprise that the Minister would not want to publish it in advance of the election given its stinging criticism of the Government's record of ineffective decision-making, reactive policymaking and risk aversion - all undermining affordability - a failure to treat housing as a critical social and economic priority, and one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing yet one of the poorest outcomes. There were key recommendations around the housing deficit and a dramatic increase in the delivery of social and affordable homes. I invite the Minister to give his response to the report's publication.
The Report of The Housing Commission was submitted to me on 8 May, as the Deputy will be aware. I thank the commission for its work and the commissioners for three years of detailed work to look at a longer term strategy on housing.
I established the commission. This is the first Government to do that and take a longer-term view. I have no difficulty with contrarian views within it because, even though Deputy Ó Broin might not accept this, all of us do not possess all the knowledge on every housing issue and it is important that we deal with stakeholders.
The report runs to more than 400 pages including appendices, 83 recommendations and 500 actions and sub-actions. While a comprehensive examination of the report will take time, it is immediately clear the radical shift the commission recommends is well under way through the Government's Housing for All plan and other measures. Indeed, a preliminary assessment of the report, which I have published, suggests almost 80% of the commission's recommendations are already either done or at varying stages of implementation.
All aspects of the report will be considered in detail.
That is delusional.
Is the Deputy to ask a question later on?
I am.
Good.
In the meantime, I have asked the Housing Agency to conduct a comprehensive analysis of costings, timelines and priorities. This will allow for a fuller consideration of the policy matters raised than would otherwise be possible, given the report does not cost actions or, indeed, specify timelines for implementation.
The Commission's report, together with the Housing Agency conclusions vis-à-vis costings, timelines and priority actions, will help inform consideration of the forthcoming Housing for All action plan update, which I intend to bring to the Government with my proposals for next steps in the autumn.
One example I will give the Deputy - there are many - of recommendations the commission has made that are already in place, is the 20% social and affordable provision, which we have already changed. I reversed that decision that was made by a previous Government.
That is in place now, among many other measures, including the support and use of equity schemes for first-time buyers. I published that as well. I have published a plan and a report, which we are implementing. I published this report. That is in stark contrast to the Deputy, who has published nothing.
Not only is the Minister's response delusional, but it is positively Orwellian in its attempt to describe a report that is critical of the Government as somehow endorsing it. In fact, the Minister has provoked the ire of one of the commission members, Mr. Michael O'Flynn, who was on the "Today with Claire Byrne" show last week. Not only has he been deeply disappointed by the Government's response, but he suggested that it has insulted the commission by suggesting that recommendations for the radical changes it is proposing are already being done. Maybe the Minister does not understand the recommendation about 20%. The commission is not calling for 20% of private housing to be social and affordable. It is saying it wants 20% of all housing stock to be social and affordable. That would mean, on an annual basis, half of all new homes would have to be social and affordable within the timeline outlined in the report.
Let us be clear. The Minister would not have published this report if it had not been leaked. He sat on the right to housing report for ten months and was forced to publish this report. Specifically, however, will he give me his response to the commission's claim that the housing deficit it outlined was deliberately excluded from the Government's original targets and, as it stands, will be excluded from its current revision because the methodology for the ESRI has not changed?
No, absolutely not. I thank the commission for its work. I have thanked it publicly for that. In fairness, the report I received on 8 May took years to prepare. Lots of work the commissioners did in the subgroups requires more than two weeks' consideration. I published the report because part of it was leaked and I thought it much better that people could see the full report. That is the right thing to do. I do not see any disagreement in that regard. I have no issue with that whatsoever.
I outlined the next steps to the Deputy. On the area of affordable housing, the chair of the commission, John O'Connor, again on RTÉ, said that we have brought about a step change in affordable delivery, that we should stick with it, and that the most important thing now is consistency of approach because we are ramping up that affordable housing delivery. The Deputy will see that the report indicates many members of the commission disagreed with each other on various things. That is also a good thing. People have different perspectives. We have a minority and majority report on the referendum where there are also differing views, which all need to be considered in the round as well. I already outlined many of the actions, and I published the commentary and recommendations, which are either done or are in train. I do thank the commission for the work it has done.
The truth of the matter is the vast majority of what is in the report has not only not been initiated by the Government but is at radical variance with it. I will deal with two matters. When the Government was developing the targets for its current plan, it deliberately excluded pent-up demand. When the ESRI undertook its survey to inform the Government's plan, it was not allowed to look at pent-up demand. That is the deficit. Right now, the ESRI is undertaking a similar study. Pent-up demand is not included in that. Will the Minister instruct the ESRI to include unmet pent-up demand in order that we have accurate data to underpin that study?
Second, the commission is recommending that 20% of all housing stock be social and affordable. Does the Minister agree with that? Is it something the Government will support so that when we get its new target, whenever it will be in the autumn, it will also include a dramatic increase in the delivery of social and affordable homes? It is clear from this report that not only is the commission saying the Government is not delivering enough homes, its delivery of social and affordable homes is nowhere near what is required to meet need.
When this Government came in, I was very clear with people, and we published Housing for All as well, that we were dealing with a legacy issue of ten years of very significant undersupply of housing. There is absolutely pent-up demand. What have we done since then? Up to quarter 1 this year, we delivered 110,000 new homes. That does not include the thousands of vacant homes we brought back into use. That is real progress. Not everyone is feeling that yet, but we see it throughout the country. We see new housing developments in every town, village and city. In April, there were 18,000 new housing starts in that month alone. Some 53,000 new homes have been started in the past 12 months.
We are reviewing the housing targets. I have been very open about that. There has been a deficit because of ten years of undersupply. We are making progress on that. We will revise the targets and publish them in the autumn, taking into account the very good work the commission did. We will also look at the ESRI's work when its survey and analysis come in. That will help us frame the new housing targets to the end of the decade.
Housing Provision
Questions (58)
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:58. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the action he will take to ensure that enough affordable housing is built to meet demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24356/24]
View answerOral answers (25 contributions)
In the previous election, the Government promised it would deliver 10,000 affordable homes each and every year. Not only did it fail to deliver on this promise, but it failed to meet the much more modest targets it set last year, when only 499 affordable purchase homes were actually delivered. The Minister promised when we previously had oral questions that he would answer my priority question. Why has the Government not provided the early-stage finance that is so badly needed to ensure that more affordable purchase homes are built?
Housing for All sets out a range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing out to 2030, comprising 54,000 affordable homes to be delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs, the Land Development Agency, and through the first home scheme, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
In 2023, more than 4,000 affordable housing supports have been delivered via our delivery partners, an output which has more than doubled since the previous year and represents an increase of 128% on 2022 activity, which highlights the significant progress achieved to date on affordable housing from a standing start. Our various schemes are now operating at scale, with this momentum continuing as the pipeline is developed. Data for affordable housing delivery is published on my Department's website up to quarter 4 2023, with quarter 1 2024 data currently being collated.
Following on from the ongoing work on the review of the national planning framework, and the forthcoming update of the housing need and demand assessment based on updates to population and housing projections under census 2022 data, the Minister has asked the Department to prepare a revised affordable housing strategy, which will update pathway 1 of Housing for All while retaining a focus on increasing homeownership. Building on the momentum already made, the revised strategy will consider the new housing targets and outline plans to ensure that further delivery of affordable housing takes place alongside increased overall supply of homes more generally. It is anticipated this will be published in quarter 3 of this year.
On the revised affordable housing strategy, which is at the core of the Deputy's question, an internal working group has been established. It will look at serious considerations regarding the development of a revised affordable housing strategy. The key thematic considerations for the revised strategy will include capital supports, the timeline for delivery and support programmes, the capacity and resources required to support same, and delivery targets. In addition, a series of external stakeholder group meetings have been commenced over quarters 1 and 2 of 2024. I will come back in with a supplementary answer on the other matters the Deputy raised.
I am specifically asking about affordable purchase homes because of the lack of early-stage finance to get projects off the ground. The last time I attended oral questions on housing, the Minister said he would answer the question the next time. He has shown disregard for that. If I did not know better, I would think he has shown favouritism and bias towards Sinn Féin by answering its questions-----
Certainly not.
-----but not ours. I said if I did not know better.
I have never been accused of being biased towards Sinn Féin.
When the Minister took office, there was a successful, viable model of how to deliver affordable purchase housing. Ó Cualann was building high-quality homes at prices that families on middle incomes could afford. For example, three-bedroom, A2-rated semi-detached homes at Dun Emer, Lusk, were available for €258,000. Instead of expanding this model of housing delivery, the Government has done its very best to scupper it. For several years now, Ó Cualann has been crying out for early-stage finance so it can get its projects off the ground. If it could get 4% of the project costs upfront, it could build many more badly needed affordable homes. That is just 4%, which could be provided by way of a loan rather than a grant. Hundreds of badly needed affordable purchase homes with planning permission are not getting built. When will the Government provide the early-stage finance needed to get these projects off the ground? If the senior Minister actually answered, he would not have to whisper the answers to the Minister of State for heritage.
Generally, when it comes to overall delivery, to the end of quarter 4 2023, more than 5,800 affordable housing solutions have been delivered through cost rental, the first home scheme, the local authority affordable purchase scheme, and the vacant property refurbishment grant. The first home scheme is assisting first-time buyers to purchase new homes. Recently published quarter 1 2024 delivery figures show more than 4,000 approvals have been issued since the scheme launched, with 75% of approvals issued in counties Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
I asked about early-stage finance. Will the Minister of State please answer the question?
On the issues around the general delivery of affordable housing, the affordable housing fund now provides funding of up to €150,000 to support apartment delivery in urban areas.
In July 2023, the Government approved additional supports for AHBs to deliver cost-rental homes by increasing funding to up to 55% of capital costs from the previous 45%. This funding comprises a mixture of favourable loan financing and State equity investment. The secure tenancy affordable rental, STAR, scheme provides investment of up to €750 million for the delivery of new cost-rental homes by the private sector out to 2027.
I am asking the Minister of State about early stage finance to get the affordable purchase homes we need. He is not answering. He clearly cannot answer and the Minister who can answer is sitting beside him and will not answer the question, which is completely unacceptable. I will read from correspondence sent to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, recently by the Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance. It reads:
Dublin City Council (DCC) supported by the Dept of Housing can fund a Hong Kong based, mega wealthy developer to build 516 affordable and social houses and we cannot get a red cent from anyone – and we had over 1,000 affordable and social homes in our pipeline.
Bartra get 100% funding including for enabling or abnormal works for the affordable and 80% for the social.
I’m livid.
[…]
With 1% of their funding, Darragh, 1% we would have all our projects on site. It seems like you just don’t care […]
What the hell is going on?
Will the Minister of State tell us why early stage finance for much-needed affordable purchase homes is not being provided so that we can get these projects off the ground? If the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage cannot answer that question, perhaps the senior Minister would.
I will not get into a response on specific projects. The local authorities are delivering affordable homes with funding approval in place to assist with the delivery of more than 4,135 purchase and cost-rental homes across 21 local authorities with support of more than €335 million from the affordable housing fund. Again, I will not get into specifics about-----
Is the Minister of State going to say anything about early stage finance? That is what my question is about. Does he have anything to say about it?
That is what the AHF is for.
It is for providing early stage finance for affordable purchase homes.
Then why are these not getting off the ground?
I am not getting into specific issues relating to that particular-----
He answers now.
If the Minister wants to answer, he should go on and answer.
Raise it under Questions on Promised Legislation, Cian. I will answer you then.
I have just asked the question here now and you will not answer it.
That is right.
No answer has been given.
Lean ar aghaidh.
Homeless Persons Supports
Questions (59)
Eoin Ó Broin
Question:59. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he will take to address the rising levels of homelessness and in particular the unacceptably high levels of child homelessness. [24568/24]
View answerOral answers (36 contributions)
Yesterday, the Dublin Inquirer reported that the Dublin Region Homeless Executive is seeking an additional 2,000 emergency beds for people experiencing homelessness here in Dublin. Yesterday, I was in Limerick with my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan. We met with Help the Homeless Limerick, NOVAS and other front-line homelessness service providers. They described a significant deterioration in the homelessness situation in the area with increases in the number of rough sleepers and people seeking emergency accommodation and a collapse in the number of exits from accommodation. In advance of the homelessness figures being published tomorrow, will the Minister tell us whether we expect to see yet another rise in all categories of homelessness?
I have not seen the figures yet. We will publish them, as we do, for everyone to see. We have seen an increase in the number of exits from homelessness, which is welcome. People who find themselves in emergency accommodation are spending less time there and more are exiting into permanent secure homes. I assure the Deputy that supporting individuals and families facing homelessness remains a priority for me and for this Government.
Critical to supporting households to exit homelessness is supporting supply. That is why almost 12,000 new social homes were delivered last year through build, acquisition and leasing. This figure includes 8,110 new-build homes, the highest number in nearly 50 years. When HAP and RAS are included, 21,733 social housing solutions were delivered in 2023. Our big focus is on increasing the stock and the supply. That is why the €5 billion we are investing in housing this year is incredibly significant. The results of this funding will include the delivery of 9,300 new-build homes. We have absolutely turned the dial and made a step change in the delivery of social housing. Funding for the purchase of homes where a tenant is in situ will continue through the course of this year. Last year, the homes of 1,830 people who were in insecure HAP or RAS tenancies were purchased and brought into the social housing stock. This year, we have provision to acquire at least 1,500 more. That is working through.
The budget allocation to fund homelessness services in 2024 is €242 million. That funding will support the provision of emergency accommodation and support households to exit from that accommodation and into a tenancy. Housing for All also includes measures to enhance family support and prevention and early intervention services for children and their families through a co-ordinated multiagency response.
On the regions, we are seeing a significant reduction in the number of those in emergency accommodation in the regions across the country. It is an acute issue in the Dublin region. The figures are broken down and that can be seen. In parts of the country, we are seeing a significant decrease because of the increase in housing stock that is coming in, particularly the 6,000 social homes we delivered in the last quarter of last year. These are facts, Eoin. The reality is that it is our number one priority to exit people into safe and secure social homes.
The Minister is absolutely correct that he has turned the dial and that there has been a step change. That step change is the most dramatic increase in child homelessness under any Minister in modern times. In Cork city, Limerick city, Waterford and Dublin, homelessness is rising. When Deputy O'Brien became Minister, there were just over 2,500 children in emergency accommodation funded by his Department; there are now over 4,000. It is not his number one priority. Frankly, it is dishonest to come into his House, month after month, and say it is his number one priority when the figures tell us that the numbers are going in the wrong direction. The problem is that the number of people who are becoming homeless each month is greater than the number of people exiting emergency accommodation. That is why the figures are rising. How does the Minister sleep at night when he sees the figures published on the last Friday of every month? How does he go home to his family, his children and his secure roof and say that this is his number one priority? I suspect the numbers will go up yet again tomorrow. They will continue to go up because he is not delivering a sufficient volume of social homes for the people who need them the most.
We are delivering more new social homes than the State has in over 50 years and we will do more than that again. Our plan is published and being implemented. It is happening. That is in stark contrast to the lack of any alternative. The Deputy has put nothing forward. In Cork county, there has been a 32% year-on-year reduction. In Longford, the reduction was 32% and, in Kildare, it was 22%. In Monaghan, it was 22% and, in Westmeath, it was 15%. There was also a 14% reduction in Offaly. The yearly increase in the number of exits from homelessness and preventions is 6,848. That is a 25% increase on the previous year. I do not need to be reminded of my responsibilities in this area.
I think you do.
Hold on; does the Deputy want to keep interrupting as he has done right the way through? I remind the Chair that he is independent today, regardless of his party affiliation.
I have maintained that independence.
The Chair has not asked Deputy Ó Broin to be quiet once.
Go on, Minister; talk down the clock.
I have and, to be honest, the Minister is fairly good at cutting in himself. We will continue from here.
All I will say is that I am acutely aware of our responsibilities and the job we have to do to drive down the numbers in homeless emergency accommodation. I chair the national homeless action committee myself and I work with stakeholders. It is a complex issue. The Deputy knows that. People enter emergency accommodation for various different reasons. We are increasing the supply and we are exiting more people. We will continue to do that.
Despite what the Minister has said, the numbers of adults, children, families and pensioners in emergency accommodation rises under his watch. After his term of office, he will be known and remembered as the Minister for homelessness. He is selectively quoting figures when his own Department tells us that the figures are increasing month on month and year on year. In the last 12 months, homelessness has increased by 15% overall. The most frustrating thing is that, despite the fact the Minister says this is his number one priority, there is nothing new on offer. He has not outlined any new or additional interventions he is going to take to bring these numbers down. What he has just said is that he is just going to carry on with the same failed policies. What has that done since he became Minister? It has driven the numbers up. If he wants to, in the few minutes he has left, the Minister could outline whether he will do anything different from what he has done to date to bring those numbers down in June, July, August and September if the numbers increase yet again tomorrow. If he does not, the numbers will continue to rise. Shame on you for that failure.
The key is increasing supply and social housing output in particular and providing additional supports for people, such as the purchase of homes with tenants in situ, which has been very successful and a really important preventative measure. We are delivering those additional homes. I meet people all across the country who are exiting emergency accommodation and who have secured permanent tenancies. I am not selectively quoting; I have given the Deputy facts. He will have his point of view or perspective on those.
I will also quote the Department's figures.
People need to understand Sinn Féin has produced nothing to say how it would-----
You are the Minister and homelessness is rising.
We have delivered 110,000 new homes-----
A 50% increase in child homelessness is what you have delivered.
Cathaoirleach, it is very difficult-----
Teachta Ó Broin, le do thoil. Lean ar aghaidh, a Aire.
Apologies, Chair.
Thank you. Our progress on housing is there to be seen. There are still-----
How is a 50% increase in child homelessness progress?
There are still significant-----
How is that progress?
A Theachta, sin uilig.
Every single time I try to respond to a question, the Deputy opposite-----
You avoid the question.
This is a very important issue.
It is, and you should do something about it. You are the Minister. You are in charge. This is on you.
I am not playing politics with it like you. You try to exploit problems and put nothing forward. All you want to do is exploit people's problems and difficulties.
No. I want you to do your job.
Now we are having a conversation. I think we will move on.
I would say shame on you for that, Deputy Ó Broin.
We will move on to the next question. Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.